Child of the Dragon
by jacques0
Summary: Aesyr moved to the continent of Atlasia to honor a promise made, however, the past has way of catching up and the power she wield may be what is needed to usher in a new age for the people of Atlasia. A tale of lost magic begins... Same Universe as Child of Heaven but 400 years in the past.
1. Atlasia

**Hello everyone. Welcome to the start of a new adventure. I know it had been a long while since i wrote anything in the Fairy Tail universe and well, blame 100 year Quest for this story as it planted the idea within my mind. While i don't expect this story to go as long as Child of Heaven did it will still be epic lenght...i hope.**

**I have a lot of things planned for the future of this story but now Enjoy****.**

**Chapter Cover: **Eve, facing us with a hand raised as she gave a high five toward another girl with silver hair facing the other way...

CHILD OF THE DRAGON

Chapter One

Atlasia

_The young woman was huffing lightly as she was upon her knees, her clothing torn, blood dripping from between her fingers. Her hair fell down around her head as she stayed in that position. Her breaths were coming in short gasps._

"_**Is that the limit of your resolve?" **__a powerful voice boomed from above her._

_The young woman looked up at the figure that was shadowed by the sun behind it but the figure was massive enough that she can see the two large leathery wings…._

"_**You're still too weak for this power," **__the powerful voice echoed once more, "__**You don't have enough resolve yet…"**_

* * *

"Ah…Ma'am…," a voice called from above her.

The young woman was lying down upon the ground of the ship. She was dressed in a traveling cloak, her silver hair falling upon her shoulders from where she was. She couldn't really focus on anything going on around her except the swaying of the ship she was currently on. Just by being on the vessel she feels like she was about to throw up.

And she had to endure this for over an entire month.

_I'm going to die…in a pool of vomit…_

"Hum…ma'am…," the voice called again.

"_A…Are we there yet_?"

"We're just entered inside Port," the voice spoke out, "You said you wanted to reach Atlasia yes?"

The silver haired young woman looked up at the voice that was talking to her. It was one of the ship's crewmember, and the man was staring down at her with a concerned look upon his features. The young woman now with her features revealed was on the young side with two blue eyes that were staring up toward the crewmember in front of her. Her skin was dark caramel color and was quite unblemished except for the scar that ran down vertically on her left cheek.

This young woman's name was Aesyr and despite her skin color, she was very visibly green.

"We…we've reached Atlasia?" she asked, her voice shaking.

She felt ship sway again as she raised a hand toward her mouth to stop herself from vomiting.

"We're reached Ebalon port," the man told her, "It's one of the major ports town of Atlasia."

Aesyr nodded at him.

"_Gods I hate transportation_," she mumbled.

The crewmember laughed a little.

"Man, and here I thought I've seen it all," he said, "You've got the worst case of motion sickness I've seen in years kid…here let me help you. We've been docked for half an hour now."

Aesyr's eyes widened in shock.

"You mean…_I could have been off this deathtrap thirty minutes ago?" _she said, "Then why didn't you say this earlier?"

"You were pretty much out of it," the man told her as he helped her stand.

The two made their way out of the cabin and into the deck where the salty taste of the sea was quite strong in the air. Some of the crewmembers were wandering about the ship as they were busy working, preparing for the next voyage but what really drew the woman's attention was the city in the front of her.

It was a beautiful port town.

There was a theme of dark red as most of the roofs she could see where in the same color many people were moving on about going on their lives with the sun shining quite brightly above them in the clear summer morning. Aesyr's blue eyes were wide with amazement as she took in the many things, she could see around herself.

Unlike how things were back in Dragnov, this place was so culturally different that she felt a little out of place to be honest.

"Welcome to the Port Town of Ebalon," the man said as they were now standing on solid ground.

Now no longer aboard the swaying ship, Aesyr was staring to feel like herself again. She really was staring to hate having that particular weakness thanks to her magic training she had gone through under her Master.

"There is something that I must know," the man said looking down at her, "If you have just a bad case of motion sickness, why would you even want to take a month-long voyage to this place?"

Aesyr glanced at him.

"Oh…that. Well, I have a promise to keep to someone," she answered.

"Must be some promise for you to endure all of that," the man said shaking his head lightly.

"Of course," she said, "He was my Master after all…anyway, I've got to get going. Thanks for the ride."

With that she was off running away, leaving the man to stare after.

"Kids these days," he said shaking his head.

* * *

"I can't believe it, I am finally here," Aesyr said looking around herself in awe as she was taking in the many sights that were in the Port town, "Master's home."

There was a strange nostalgic feeling within her as she continued to walk through the street by herself with her backpack. Her traveling cloak danced behind her as she continued on her way. Having grown up in Fiore all her life, Atlasia was a completely different world altogether for the young woman.

GROWL!

Aesyr suddenly glanced down at her stomach, placing a hand upon it. Oh yeah, she hadn't been able to eat much on the trip given her bad case of motion sickness. She hadn't wanted to puke it back up in the state she had been in.

"Better get something to eat first before starting my quest then," the young woman said, "Wonder if I'm going to find a restaurant around here somewhere?"

Aesyr wandered off toward a random direction, thought she couldn't help but pull out the small object that she was carrying within her clothing back into her hand. She stared at the object for a few moments, looking at the sigil of the Dragon that was upon it.

_Master…_

Aesyr shook her head, placing the object back within her clothing.

It didn't take her long to find a place to eat and order up some food. The young woman was seating by herself as she continues to scarf down the food that was in front of her. She hadn't eaten that much in a while and having a full belly is always something that was nice for her to have…thought she had no idea as to where she needs to go yet. She doesn't have a map of the place, nor did she even know where she needs to head to.

The place she was in was filled with many other people that were all talking about their days, most of them probably the ordinary people of this part of the land. She pulled the small object again looking at the Dragon upon it before turning it backward looking at the engraving that was there. Since she was given it, Aesyr had memorized the word that was on it's back. She still didn't know if it was a place or not, but given now that she was in the country, she needs to find out.

Standing up, the young woman made her way toward the counter where the bartender was cleaning up the cups that were in front of her.

"Hey, there is something that I wanted to talk to you about," she said.

"Is it about that strange coin you have?" the bartender asked, raising his eyes toward her.

Aesyr blinked.

"You could see that from where I was seating?"

The bartender looked at her, a small amused smile upon his lips.

"Not a lot get pass me," he answered her, "But you had a question to ask me did you not?"

"Does the word Dragmount mean anything to you?"

Surprise appeared upon the man's face at that. Aesyr didn't see what was so surprising about it.

"Dragmount?" the man said, "Well it is quite a way from here, it is in Minotaur territory right now. You won't really get many people around here to talk about Dragmount…not since it fell some odd five years ago."

"It fell?"

The man set the glass he was cleaning down upon the table and stared at her for a few moments, almost as if he was searching something upon her face. Then, his expression seems to clear.

"You're not from around here, are you?" he said almost as if he was whispering it to himself, "At least it makes sense that you don't know about it. It is quite a sad tale really. Once a place of power here in Atlasia, now it is nothing more a shadow of it's former self. The Minotaur had already taken it over thought I heard there are still some pocket of resistance here and there about it."

Aesyr frowned to herself.

"Is that so?"

_About half of the things he just said doesn't make much sense to me…but from what I can understand, it was place of power that fell off the map and some of it's people are still fighting against that "Minotaur" whatever that is…probably a guild or something._

"How do I get there?" she asked.

The bartender blinked.

"You still want to go there despite everything I just told you?" he said surprised.

"Half of the things you just said doesn't make much sense to me," Aesyr said, "The other half…well, I don't really care about it so just tell me on how to get there?"

The bartender let out a small sigh.

"Well, it's not like I can stop you from going," he said, "But at least you were warned. If something happens to you on the way there, well you will have yourself to blame for that."

"I've gotten into worse scrap than that and pulled out just fine," Aesyr answered.

"Whatever you say…well, at the end of town there is a carriage that will take you to a place called Green Mount from there, you'll probably be able to see Dragmount from there but don't expect it to be a pretty sight…"

Aesyr's face was devoid of emotion as she stared at him.

"I'll keep that in mind," she said.

With that the young woman turned away from him and walked out of the bar. Aesyr was feeling bummed out at having to ride inside a vehicle again. Having motion sickness just take the fun out of everything and turned everything on wheels into a deathtrap.

_I wonder how long it will take for me to get there on foot?_

Her Master never once spoke of another home other than Dragnov. She had never realized that he even had a different home before. When the war with the other Dragons started to get worse over the following years, Belserion had reached out to other allies he knew and then that was around when she first met her Master too and started to train with him.

_Thought…I guess anyone would want to return home at some point…_

Aesyr turned down an alleyway, moving away from the crowd of people, and just as she had expected the scent that had been following after her, started to follow her as well and then she came to a stop, hearing the footsteps approaching. Leaning against the wall, she allows the one who was following her to reach her and then the person stepped from across the hallway.

"Hey," she greeted.

The figure jumped backward, away from her, their hand instantly going for the sword that was at their waist but Aesyr simply stayed where she was, looking at him.

"Who are you and why are you following me?"

The figure stayed still, probably surprised at being caught.

"How did you…?"

"I'm a perceptive girl," Aesyr answered simply.

A silence settled between the two as they stared at each other. The man, noticing that she wasn't moving to attack eased in his stance raising both of his hand toward the hood that shadowed his face and he pulled it back revealing his features. He had a hardened look upon his face, spiky blond hair falling on either side of his face like bangs and dark eyes. In Aesyr's eyes, he looked like a warrior.

"That coin you had back there?" he asked, "Where did you get it?"

"Why do you care?" Aesyr asked, "It had nothing to do with you."

"Well you're the one that come into my lands and start asking about a place that should have no interest to an outsider," the man spoke out.

Aesyr narrowed her eyes.

"Listen here," she spat, "I don't need you hounding me about this. I have something I actually need to do, then I'll be going."

She turned away from him. He caught her arm.

"You're not going anywhere," he growled.

_Alright, he is asking for it, _she thought.

She launched her other fist forward, slamming it straight into his gut, taking him by surprise. He let out a grunt of pain, letting go of her arm as she glared at him.

"_Touch me like that again, and I'll do worst to you," _she growled at him.

The man glared at her and with a lightning like reflex, his sword was out. The steel, flashed in the sun aiming straight for her but with her superior hearing, Aesyr was able to avoid the attack by jumping away from him, thought he did manage to cut through her cloak.

_He is fast, _Aesyr though, narrowing her gaze yet again.

The young man's sword then started to glow with magic.

"**Sword Magic, Pentagram Force," **

Aesyr's eyes widened in surprise before the area exploded as she was blown backward from where she had been standing. The young woman let out a gasp of pain as she crashed through a couple of houses but otherwise, she didn't get too badly hurt…except for some scrap and bruises that will heal in a day or two.

_And he is a wizard to add to it, _she thought, _That type of magic…its not dissimilar to how things are in Fiore…thought, for him to be able to cast a spell that powerful in such a short range…he's gotten some skills…_

She glanced up finding the young man walking toward her, his sword still glowing with same magic power from earlier.

"I must admit, I am surprised you will unleash such a blast in the middle of town," she said, "You could have gotten some civilians caught in it."

The young man tilted his head lightly at her words.

"You really are an outsider," he said, "You can only notice things that are on the surface like all outsiders. You were probably mesmerized by the sights as any outsider, never realizing that you've just stepped in the belly of the beast."

"Is that so?"

"That bartender you spoke to," the man continued, "He is an informant for Minotaur and since he knows about your coin, it won't be long before someone come sniffing around where they shouldn't. Now I don't know why you have that coin but killing you here will protect my people from the Minotaur."

"Sorry," Aesyr spoke out, her voice still, "But I won't be dying just yet…I have a promise have to accomplish for someone very dear to me."

"Then you're going to have to accomplish it from beyond the grave," the man said.

He charged at her with amazing speed, his sword slicing through the air but Aesyr dodged the attack, having heard it coming the moment the man moved. While she was still low, the young woman tightened her hand into a fist rising it straight up toward her opponent's face.

Her fist connected and the young man was thrown back spinning upon himself before he landed down upon the ground in a crouch. Aesyr launched forward, her leg already up as it came down toward him in a heel attack but he blocked it with his forearm causing a shockwave from the connection.

The young man grits his teeth at her and Aesyr narrowed her eye sat him as she flipped backward, landing a few yards away from him in a crouch. The two met eyes across the distance before they both charged at each other.

"**Sword Might," **the young man yelled, as the glowing glade came at her.

Aesyr dodged the attack by jumping to the side to avoid it as the blast of magic destroyed the ground the area, she was in a few seconds ago. Using the wall as a stepping stone, she flew forward aiming straight toward him with a knee, hitting the man straight in the face causing him to grunt and wince from the attack.

He stepped to the side a few steps, staggered from the attack.

"I don't know what you got against me," Aesyr spoke out as she landed down on the ground in a crouch, her fist glowing with magic, "But I'm not going to let you stop me from getting where I need to go."

She launched it forward just as the guy, raised his sword once more which glowed with magic power.

The two-power clashed against each other causing shockwave again as the two fighters were separated once more. Aesyr frowned to herself as she looked at the young man across her. His clothing had ripped in some places revealing a dark leather armor he was wearing underneath the cloak he had on, his blond hair falling around his face as he stared at her. There was surprise within his dark gaze.

"You're strong," he said, "I must admit, not many can go head-to-head against me in battle."

"You're pretty strong yourself," she said, "If we were in my home country, you'd be at the level of a Captain of Dragnov's Army."

Then she blinked in surprise, her ears picking up someone else approaching.

"Someone's coming," she said.

The young man seems surprised again at her words.

"And here I was wondering who was making all that noise," a voice called out.

A guy was there with a small smirk upon his face as he looked at the two of them. He was wearing green clothing and baggy black pants. His hair was in afro thought it had a headband upon his forehead. The man had a smirk upon his face as he was staring down at the two of them.

"You…," the young man said narrowing his eyes.

The afro guy seems surprised for a moment before a large grin appeared upon his face.

"Well, well," he grinned, "If it isn't the DragonKnight himself, Minotaur has been looking for you, Shinji."

* * *

**A three way stand-off...**

**Next Time: **The Conflict of Atlasia

**Jacques0 out.**

**R&R**


	2. The Conflict of Atlasia

**Hey guys, here is the next chapter of this fanfic. Hope you have enjoyed the intro so far.**

**Anyway, enjoy the read.**

**Chapter Cover: **Shinji seating by himself as his sword was leaning against his shoulder as both of his eyes were closed.

Chapter Two

The Conflict of Atlasia

Aesyr looked at the two in front of her for a few moments, silent about what was going on in front of her. From the way her opponent reacted to the new arrival, it was clear that they were not on the same side. However, something from what they said earlier stood out to her.

_Dragon knight? What is that?_

"How did you locate us so quickly?" her opponent asked.

The afro man let out a grin.

"Words on the street that someone was seen holding one of the Dragmount coin," he said, "Had to figure out that it must have been one of your rebel friends but from the looks of it, it doesn't seem that you guys are even friends at all."

Aesyr frowned lightly.

"So you're here for me?" she asked.

The afro man gave her a glance.

"I was going to come for you," he said, "But since I have a Dragon Knight here in front of me. He'll make bigger prize than most here…after all, you and your kind have been causing nothing but trouble for everyone else."

The blonde man, Shinji grit his teeth in anger.

"You want us to stop fighting?" he asked, "You want us to lay down and die. We Dragon knight doesn't surrender against enemies of our people."

"We?" the afro man repeated, "That's funny…here I was thinking that you were the last of your kind. The last Dragon knight…tell me Shinji, how does it feel to carry that title?"

Shinji seems to be getting more and more pissed off at him.

"Do you want to know how many of your comrades I slaughtered?" Afro man continued as he looked down at him, "While I can admire your tenacity but you should very well know that the battle is already lost. Your Dragon Protector has been gone for fifty years and the Dragmount is nothing but a pile of rubbles and the lands around it belong to Minotaur now…you can fight for all you like, it won't amount to anything at all."

Afro's grin seems to grow even more demented.

"All you have been doing is dying for nothing," he said, "All your comrades died…_like nothing but rats."_

* * *

"KARMER," Shinji yelled in anger.

Afro guy, Karmer, let out a small smirk as the young man launched at him, his sword glowing with power but his attack never reached him for he had disappeared from his spot, appearing in the air behind him. Karmer had his hand raised toward his unprotected back, a dark grin upon his features.

"_You're dead," _he said.

Blood exploded from his chest as a wound took place there. Shinji let out a gasp of pain as the wound took place. The young man then fell down from where he attacked landing down upon his front on the ground. Pain surged through his entire body as he laid there blood falling from his wound as well as his lips.

Karmer landed down on the ground behind him staring down at his form.

"So, end the last Dragon knight," he said shaking his head, "Given how strong you are, I never expected you to fall for such a trick. You should have known when you were beaten. Maybe we should parade your severed head around for your rebel friend to know that their efforts are futile. There is no one in your group strong enough to defeat our Commanders and even then, Minotaur is on another level entirely."

Shinji slowly started to push himself up.

"Oh…still have some fight in you did ya?"

"We will… never surrender…. to Minotaur," Shinji gasped blood falling from his lips, "Dragmount belong to our people….and to Lord Elassan…and we Dragon knight…will continue to fight until…his return…"

Karmer narrowed his eyes.

"I may…be the last Dragon knight…," Shinji continued standing up fully, "Beaten and bloodied…but my pride will allow me…to still stand…"

Shinji huffed glaring at him.

"Because…that's the bond…we share…with Lord Elassan…,"

Karmer stood silent for a moment.

"You know I was planning to take you to kill you here…but, I think it's better if we parade around your corpse rather than your head…I wonder which spirit will break first…?"

Shinji glared at him.

"You fiend…,"

Someone stepped beside Shinji, and it was that girl he was fighting against earlier.

"You…,"

Karmer blinked.

"I have no business with you girl," he said.

"But I have business with you," the girl spoke out.

* * *

Aesyr was feeling pretty pissed off right now. The young woman had both of her hands into fist as she was glaring at the man with the afro across her. She never thought that she would have found someone that was connected to her Master and she knew that he would never forgive her if she didn't step in to try and help.

And the other guy was just pissing him off.

"I can't let you kill this man," she said.

"Oh?" Karmer said raising his eyebrows, "And why is that? The two of you seems to be well on your way of killing each other just earlier."

"It's true," she said, "We were enemies but when I heard that he served Elassan, we were no longer enemies."

She heard the man let out a gasp from behind her but she didn't turn around to look at him at all.

"But you are now," Aesyr continued.

She suddenly dashed forward with a fist and Karmer's eyes widened in surprise at her speed but the punch never reached him for it slammed into an invisible wall that had appeared right in front of him.

"An attack like this without any type of magic won't ever reach me," Karmer said with a low chuckle

But then, Aesyr's fist started to glow with magic power. A silver glow shining around it appearing all around the young's woman body. The amount of magic power that was coming from within her was causing the air around her to crackle with it and that power caused Karmer's eyes to widen in shock…

"**Silver Dragon…Explosive Punch," **she spoke out.

KABOOM!

A massive blast of power exploded from her fist, completely engulfing Karmer entirely as the man yelled out in pain as he was blown away from the attack completely. Aesyr stood there with her fist raised as a large wave of destruction was in front of her, the young woman staring out toward the direction of where she had sent him flying.

"You just…send him flying…," Shinji gasped from behind her, "Who are…you?"

Aesyr glanced behind her, taking notice of the wound that he had.

"You shouldn't worry like that with that wound," she said, "I"ll take care of this guy."

She didn't give him time to answer as she moved forward, removing the cloak she was wearing upon her body. She didn't want to damage the cloak from the upcoming battle that was coming to her. When she was done, she revealed the short pants she had one with knee high boots. As a top she had on a elbow long sleeved shirt low enough to show the top of her cleavage, and that was just how low it went.

Aesyr continued to walk until she found her opponent again, Karmer standing there with some bruises upon his clothing. The man glared at her approaching form.

"You're picking a fight with the wrong person girl," he said, "You are going to regret crossing me."

"Is that so?" Aesyr said, "Then show me how strong you are."

Karmer let out a tching sound from his lips as he launched barriers toward her. Aesyr jumped avoiding the attack completely and then landed back down on the ground in a crouch as a barrier came from above her with the intent to crush her where she was.

"**Silver Dragon Explosive Fist," **she said raising her fist up toward the barrier.

It shattered from the blast of magic that exploded from her fist. Then she launched forward aiming straight toward him but was smashed into a barrier and blown backward through, causing her to grit her teeth as the barrier pushed against her.

Aesyr let out a roar as she launched her fist forward, smashing through the barrier once more, rushing forward toward her enemy but suddenly all around her, they were barriers blocking her way.

"It doesn't matter how many of them you break," Karmer said, "I can always create more of them…while your magic may be strong but there is nothing stronger than my Infinite Barrier spells….now get crushed little girl."

The barriers suddenly compressed down against her as she let out a grunt of pain slamming down upon the ground as the barrier continued to push down against her causing her to grit her teeth as she was sinking into the concrete ground…

_These barriers are really annoying…then'll I'll just attack with something that they can't stop then._

"**Silver Dragon…Scales," **

A blast of magic erupted from Aesyr's form as the barriers shattered from the pressure of the magic. Karmer's eyes widened in shock as the girl stood back up from where she was lying down but her entire form has changed as both of her arms and legs now had scales upon them but not any type of scales.

Silver scales…looking all too similar to the scales of a dragon…

"Try using your barrier's now, Karmer," she said.

Then she moved, her body blurring with how fast she was moving. Karmer instantly created barriers to stop her from getting closer but she simply tore through them like they weren't even there at all. The girl was completely obligating his barriers and there was nothing he could do about it at all.

"You…how can you be…My Barriers are indestructible," he yelled out creating even more barriers.

Aesyr launched a fist forward smashing through other barriers that he had made, her eyes glowing a strange reddish color as her hair shadowed her face.

"My scales were made to bring down dragons," she said, "Your weak barriers are nothing against that."

"YOU BITCH," Karmer yelled launching a barrier at her.

However, instead of trying to destroy it this time, the girl suddenly disappeared from where she was appearing right in front of him with one of her fists raised already in the process of coming down toward him. He had no chance of making a barrier in time but even at that range, there was any doubt that a barrier would have been able to do anything.

The fist slammed down upon his face with the full wrath of a dragon causing him to be thrown backward through the air and slamming unto the ground causing to shake with the force of the attack that was sent toward him.

He didn't get up for he was completely unconscious from that attack.

Aesyr stood there looking down at him for a few moments as the scales that were upon her body disappeared, returning to her original form. The young woman observed the man in the crater for a few moments before something drew her attention.

She glanced at the direction for a few moments, eyes searching for any sign that anyone was there but there was nothing at all.

_Was it my imagination? _She thought to herself for a few moments.

Not thinking much of it, Aesyr returned toward where Shinji the Dragon Knight was and saw that he was still there, a shocked expression upon his face as she was approaching him. when she came to stand in front of him the young man seems to be lost for words.

"We need to talk," he said after a while, "But not here…this place is about to get swarmed and we don't want to get caught up in that. Come with me, I know a place we can go."

Aesyr nodded.

"Very well," she said.

* * *

The place that Shinji led her to was deep into the woods outside of the Port city. Since the young man was bleeding, she was the one helping him walk through the area they were going much slower than normal. She had done what she could for the wound by bandaging him and cleaning it, thought he still needed to go see a doctor to get proper treatment.

"There is a base there for our people in these woods," he said, "But given the numbers we have lost over the years, they are not many of us left anymore."

Aesyr blinked.

"Then you're part of the resistance then?"

"I am…," he said, "You said you knew Elassan…was he the one who gave you that coin?"

"He did," Aesyr said, "Is that coin really that important?"

"It is a symbol of pride to the Dragon…Knights," Shinji told her, "It was made from his own scales. If he had given you one, then he must have believed you to be worthy of being a Dragon Knight…"

The young man coughed a little.

"Could that mean if you're here…that he sent you over with a message?"

Aesyr stayed silent for a moment. The duo continued to walk through the trees which were slowly starting to open up in front of them, revealing a hidden trail that was leading straight up toward a small hill in the distance.

"There is something that you needed to know," she said, "Elassan is…"

But she was interrupted when she caught the scent of someone approaching them. The young woman turned her gaze forward instantly stopping as a figure stepped out of the woods. He was dressed in some clothing as he had both of his hand at his side.

"Ellis," Shinji said.

Ellis had a beard upon his face as he looked at the two of them, thought there was a light worry in his gaze as he stared at them.

"What the hell happened to you?" he asked, "What happened to a simple reconnaissance mission?"

"Yeah…thing's got a little carried away," Shinji answered, still leaning heavily against Aesyr.

"He needs a doctor," she said, "I've done what I can for the wound but without proper medication…"

Ellis nodded lightly.

"Very well," he said, "If Shinji had led you then at least you must be trustworthy."

Shinji looked at him.

"She is."

Two group made their way through the path which was a simple road hidden between the tall trees. Aesyr kept her attention toward the two in front of her, and from the many scents she was picking up, she was getting close to the location the two were going and soon enough, when they turned the corner the group find themselves staring at what seems to be a fort build inside a mountain.

"Woah," Aesyr said.

"It's not much," Shinji said, "But it will serve as home for now."

"Stop talking and let me take you to Helen," Ellis said, "She'll want to know answer about what the hell just happened on a simple mission."

The group entered inside the fort. The entrance hall was strangely spacious, thought sparely decorated. There was nothing worth noticing to Aesyr other than the difference in architecture but then again, it was built inside of a mountain so there might not be that much difference there. She followed the two men down a series of hallways.

"Where is everyone?" Shinji asked.

"Well we heard there was something going on at the Port," Ellis said, "Most of them went to see what it was…thought of course at the time we didn't know if it was you getting into a fight."

"Karmer was there," Shinji said.

Ellis let out a swear.

"And you managed to get away," he said.

"No…she defeated him."

Ellis gave her an incredulous glance.

"You did?"

Aesyr nodded.

"Damn…that bastard was one of the Minotaur's Commander," Ellis said, "And you managed to…how?"

"Elassan send her," Shinji said, causing the man to look at him with wide eyes, "After all these years…after everything that we've suffered, the Dragon God send aid to us…Soon, he will be here and Minotaur will be the one, that will be running away."

The two men's spirit were up at the words he was saying but neither of them noticed the darkened expression that crossed Aesyr's face at their words.

They didn't have any idea as to the real reason she had come to Atlasia…

And she didn't know how she was going to reveal the truth of what happened back in Fiore.

What happened when, at the edge of victory, the Dragon of the Apocalypse as he was nicknamed these days, descended upon them all… and turned hope into despair.

* * *

**A darkness lies in Aesyr's past...**

**Next Time: **The Girl's Story

**Jacques0 out.**

**R&R**


	3. The Girl's Story

**Hey guys, here is the next update of this fanfic. Hope you have enjoyed the read so far but here is the next one**

**Enjoy.**

**Chapter Cover: **Aesyr standing in a forest as she was looking toward the distance and Shinji was seating down upon the ground leaning against a tree.

Chapter Three

The Girl's Story

Helen turned out to be a plump looking woman with blue hair and eyes. She had a frown upon her features as she worked upon the wound Shinji had gotten. There was a worrying concern in her gaze as she worked wrapping Shinji's torso in a bandage with both Ellis and Aesyr watching on how she worked to take care of his wound.

"He will be out of it for a few days," the woman told them, "I thought that boy was going to take it easy given our situation. For him to get this injured…I wonder what could have happened."

"Then he'll make it?" Ellis asked.

Helen gave the two of them a glance.

"Don't worry, Shinji is a lot like his father," she said, "He'll be out of here in no time."

The man Ellis was visibly relieved.

"Oh…that's good," he said.

Helen smiled at him for a few moments before her gaze turned toward Aesyr who was silently standing in the corner of the room looking at the sleeping Shinji with an empty gaze. When she felt like she was being watched, Aesyr turned her attention away from the young man and toward the two that were in the room with her.

"I must thank you for bringing back to us and helping him escape whatever situation he had found himself in," Helen said, "I know he can be quite stubborn that boy."

Aesyr only nodded.

"Of course," she said, "But can I ask you something?"

Helen nodded.

"What happened to Dragmount?" she asked, "I asked in town about it but everyone talk about the place like it was destroyed or something."

Helen looked at her with a small frown upon her features almost like she was searching something upon her features but when she didn't find what she was looking for, the woman glanced at the boy for a moment and then nodded.

"For that," she said, "Why don't we let him rest here and go find some place to talk."

The group left the infirmary room, walking through an set of hallways that led straight into a room with a small table. Both Ellis and Aesyr took a seat while Helen worked on making some tea in the kitchen. This must be a lunch room Aesyr realized as she took a glance around. It wasn't as big as one would expect as it was not filled with many chairs only a few tables. Helen returned with three cups of tea and placed one in front of her.

"Thank you," she said with a light smile.

Helen returned it as she took a seat upon one of the chairs across her. The tea smelled good, if not a little hot to be drunk yet.

"Dragmount," Helen spoke out after a while, "It was our home till five years ago."

Aesyr feel her eyes widen lightly.

"You…You're from Dragmount?" she asked.

"Both of us are," Ellis spoke out after taking a sip from his tea, "Used to be a beautiful town with grasslands as far as one can see. As a boy, I could seat upon my favorite hill and look at the entire town at sunset. It may not be something that many liked but it was home."

Aesyr stayed silent for a moment.

"What happened?"

A dark look crossed Helen features.

"Minotaur happened," she said, "He suddenly attacked our home without any warning. It was a massacre waiting to happen and there was nothing to be done at all. The Dragon knights tried to fight them off but with his Commanders, there was nothing they could do at all against them and Minotaur was simply too powerful to be stopped…"

The woman lowered her gaze toward the table, and Aesyr can see her tightening her grip upon the cup that was in front of her.

"I lost my husband to that monster," she said.

Ellis had a sympathetic look upon his face.

"We all lost something that day," he told her.

Aesyr frowned lightly.

"Is that why Shinji is the last Dragon knight?"

Ellis glances at her direction.

"He was only a trainee back then," he said, "I don't know the full on how he became one but he did. He was only fifteen after all when Dragmount fell to Minotaur…however, he more than proved himself to be a Dragon knight. If there is a test that must go through to become one, I'll say that he more than passed it."

Aesyr frowned lightly.

"Then…why did he attack?"

"It was without warning," Ellis said, "What about that you didn't understand…thought I started to think that it was because he was afraid of the Dragon Knights."

Helen looked at her.

"Our people have been peaceful for many years," she said, "The Dragon knight had always protected us in the past but now…with our people scattered across Atlasia, the Dragon knights all but wiped out, I don't see just how they could be an end to this fight."

"Helen…," Ellis said shocked.

"Shinji is a good man," she said, "But he is only one man…and when he passed, the dragon knight will be extinct…"

Ellis had a look upon his features as if he was contorted in pain.

"Our only hope now would be Lord Elassan," Helen continued, "But…he's been gone for over fifty years now…"

Aesyr tightened her hands into a fist.

"There is something I wish to say to you," she spoke out drawing their attention toward her, "I know that this is not the most opportune time but will you listen to my story?"

The two were curious.

"My full name is Aesyr Assan," she said looking at them, "I came from the Kingdom of Dragnov…"

Flashback

_To begin this tale, I have to turn to clock back some time back. Back then, the Kingdom of Dragnov was a small part of Fiore where people and Dragon have been living together for years. They were many Dragons that lived side by side with us and one of the most well known of them at the time was Belserion the Sage Dragon, one who protected the Princess of our nation as a thanks for the previous Queen for saving his life._

_But then, Dragons from the west invaded the continent of Ishgar. Belserion summoned allies from other Dragons who felt the same as him and they went to battle against the Dragon who wishes to eradicated humans and for those past seven years the lands of Fiore were locked completely in battle without any type of ending to the war._

_Until it all changed one day._

_We were all standing in the room waiting for the announcement that the Queen would make to us. I was nervous for The Sage Dragon was present as well as the large dragon looked at all of us with a critical gaze almost like he was inspecting us or something. Then, the Queen approached._

_Queen Irene was a beautiful woman with scarlet long red hair and a determinate gaze. Her features were serious as she stared at them all, her brown eyes taking them in and then she started to speak._

"_All of you have been chosen for an important task," the Queen of Dragons spoke out looking at them all, "In your years of service, your loyalty to Dragnov have been unwavering and unmatched. I am sure that many of you have been hearing the rumors about the battle going on in the west of Ishgar. The Dragons of the West are fighting against their brethren who wishes to protect and live with us in coexistence and our Dragon allies are losing the war."_

_A murmur crossed the room in surprise and even I could feel the apprehension growing within me. I always knew how powerful Dragons were in the world and there was nothing that could fight against them…but if the ones who are our allies are being defeated…then what would happen to us?_

_I could tell I wasn't the only one thinking like that. The look upon the other soldier's faces showed their thoughts quite well._

"_Well the Queen must have an idea in mind if she is bringing this up," the young man at my side spoke out._

_I glanced at him._

"_You think so?"_

_The young man had the same dark skin as me, as his spiky blue hair fell down around his face, thought his gaze was as sharp as ice._

"_She has to," he said simply._

_I didn't have time to say anything else for the Queen started to speak once more._

"_Despite our dire our situation is," Irene continued, "I am here to tell you that we have a way of turning the tide against the dragons that are killing both us and our protectors. I am here to tell you that I have found a way to push our enemies from our lands and back into the west they came. I am here to tell you that, after speaking with the Dragons that supported coexistence with us, they have decided to teach us their magic."_

_I can feel my eyes widening in shock at the revelation._

"_What?" I gasped, shocked._

"_That's impossible…," another said._

"_Can something like that even be done…?"_

Learn the power of a Dragon, _I thought shocked, _Can humans wield such power?

_Irene was looking down at us with a stern look upon her features, looking every inch the Queen that she was._

"_I can see upon your features that many of you think this is impossible," she said, "But I am here to say that it is very much possible for _I wield the power of a Dragon."

_She raised her hand as it was engulfed within a glow of magic power, but I can instantly tell that it was different than the power she usually wields. I have seen the Queen's enchanting power before and this feels completely different than what she was doing right now. _

"_I will not deny that they are risks involved into learning that power, but if this give us a glimpse of victory against overwhelming odds, are we not indebted to try?" she asked, her gaze filled with determination._

_I was completely floored at what I was seeing. For a human was wielding the power of a Dragon was something that I never thought possible in all my lifetime and yet, here was the possibility staring at me right in the face._

_Then, Belserion, the Sage Dragon spoke out this time, drawing our attention toward his massive form._

"_**I have a few Dragons that I spoke to that are open to the idea of sharing their powers with humans," **__he talked, his voice thundering through the room we were in, "__**However, know that it is because of the trust I share with the Queen they are even considering the possibility. This is an honor unlike any other you are being given. You have earned the Queen's trust as her loyal soldiers and now, that loyalty is about to be rewarded. May that knowledge fill you with pride."**_

_After that we were all dismissed._

_I walked off thinking about what was about to be given to us. I have only recently joined the Order as a way to honor my family who had been serving for generations. The Assans family had always been part of the Queen of Dragnov soldiers and as the last of the family, I was honored to join them but to think that this would be something so…unbelievable._

"_Will you refuse?"_

_I looked up at the voice that spoke to me. the blue haired young man from earlier was there. We came from the same region given our skin tone which was different than most around Ishgar. The young man was looking down at me with those piercing eyes of his, his spiky blue hair falling around his face._

"_Ace…" I said, "What about you?"_

"_I am," he said, and there was such conviction in his tone, like considering rejecting the offer was the worse idea that one could have, "I will finally have the power to make them pay for what they've done to our home."_

"_I won't reject it," I told him with a light frown._

_Ace let out a small smirk._

"_Good," he said, before turning away, "And when I have the power of a dragon, I'll make sure to bathe the countryside in their blood."_

"_You know that there is not a lot of chance of finding the one who destroyed our village," I told him._

_He stopped and then gave me a backward glance._

"_I don't care if I find him or not…I just want to kill them."_

_With that he left._

_I let out a small sigh, looking at him go. Ace, as I always called him despite that not actually being his name, wasn't always so filled with anger and hate. He used to be a laughing, carefree child during our childhood. But then, when we were around six-year-old, our village was attacked by Dragons and it was completely destroyed killing everyone we ever knew._

_Ace and I lost our entire family to the Dragons and while I retreated upon myself, keeping my pain inside, Ace however used his to lash out toward the cruel world that took what he loved the most from him…and now, despite the friendship that still exist between the two of us…_

_I almost didn't recognize him anymore._

* * *

_A week later, I found myself back at the same place as before thought this time, we were with many Dragons around the area along with Belserion the Sage Dragon being present as well. The Dragons were all different and shape and size all of them varying in scales as well, with red, bluish white, black and one that looked strangely metallic for lack of better word and there was another with orange coloring._

"_**Those are the few that have come to help us learn the Magic of the Dragons," **__Lord Belserion spoke out, "__**My friends those are the humans that have been chosen for the tasks. All of you will get to chose a human to teach your power and maybe they will be able to turn the tide in this terrible war with our brethren from the West."**_

"_**For things to have become this desperate…I guess we have no choice," **__the bluish white dragon spoke and its voice was softer marking it as a female._

"_**Have some faith in this plan, Tarmala," **__the red one spoke, "__**The Humans are much more resilient than we give them credit for."**_

_The female Dragon, Tarmala let out a humph noise._

"_**Elassan," **__Belserion spoke out addressing one of them, "__**Since you were the first to arrive, why don't you choose the human you want to teach your magic to."**_

_A Dragon approached toward us. It was scaled in silver with red lines visible upon it's scales. The Dragon was about the same size as Belserion and it stared down toward us impassively. Since it's face wasn't human it was hard to tell what type of expression he was making, however, the eyes which were a greenish hue was looking around at us all before it fell down upon me._

"_**You…human female, what's your name?"**_

_I blinked at him realizing that it was me the Dragon was speaking to._

"_Me…well, I'm Aesyr."_

"_**Aesyr…well, then how would you like to learn to wield the power of the Dragons?"**_

_I can feel all of their stares on me, and I approached forward coming to stand in front of the large creature of magic. I stared at his features for a few moments and even if I wasn't looking back, I could feel Ace's gaze upon my back. I fell down to one knee in front of the Dragon, Elassan, bowing my head as if I was in front of royalty._

"_I will be honored to learn."_

* * *

**A fated meeting...**

**Next Time: **The Girl and the Dragon

**Jacques0 out.**

**AN: Fun fact, the character "Ace" introduced in this chapter was supposed to be Acnologia in my original plan but then the Fairy Tail anime decided to give him a backstory and i was like..._ruin my fun why don't you? _so then i changed his role. **

**Anyway, hope you have enjoyed that one.**

**R&R**


	4. The Girl and the Dragon

**Hey guys, here is the next chapter of this fanfic. Hope you have been enjoying the read so far.**

**Anyway, enjoy the read.**

**Chapter Cover: **Elassan sleeping upon the ground with Aesyr leaning against his large form as he was looking up at the moon.

Chapter Four

The Girl and the Dragon

Aesyr noticed the astonished looks upon the two that were in the room with her. She knew that her story would be quite unbelievable to hear. Never before in recorded history has the Dragon chose to teach anyone their magic before and for them to teach a human…

"Lord Elassan chose to teach you?" Helen asked, surprised.

She nodded.

"He did," she said, "I don't know why he chose me…they were many other strong candidates in the room with me as well, however but he chose me…"

"That's where Elassan was for the past years since he left," Ellis spoke out a light frown upon his features.

Aesyr glanced at him, feeling curiosity running through her.

"Did you know when he left Atlasia behind?" she asked.

Ellis shook his head.

"No, I don't think even I was born when he did," he said, "I have only heard people speak about him in conversation and there was this temple built in his honor in Dragmount…that's how I knew of him."

"It could be that war in Fiore you mentioned," Helen said, "I heard stories from long ago about there used to be Dragons all over the world and even in Atlasia…For someone to be able to learn the power of the Dragons… I can't even imagine it."

Aesyr let out a small smile.

"I couldn't believe it either when I first heard Queen Irene made the announcement…however, it was possible and if something like that could have saved our country and our way of life…I would have chosen it."

Ellis glanced at her.

"Well…did you?"

Aesyr smiled.

_Flashback_

_It was a normal day out in the wooden area where the Silver Dragon told me to meet up with him so that we could start my training on learning about the magic of the Dragon. I still couldn't believe that I was actually going to learn such a magic…_

_A sudden gust of wind drew my attention skyward as a large shadow flew down from the sky. I stared up toward the Dragon with wide eyes. The sun was shining from his scales and it seemed to almost glitter as the large creature came to land right across me. Elassan then turned his attention toward me letting out a small huff._

"_**I hope you have packed everything you need for this training," **__he said._

"_Well…I got the essentials at least," I answered him, "We're not staying here in Dragnov?"_

"_**The training I have in mind will be destructive," **__Elassan spoke out, "__**I doubt Lady Irene will be pleased to see us destroy her capital when learning to battle against a Dragon. However, there is a place I found that is going to be perfect for me to teach you without disturbance."**_

_I nodded at him._

"_I see…then how are we going to get there?"_

_Elassan leaned down._

"_**Get on, we'll get there quicker if I fly us there."**_

_My mouth dropped in shock._

"_We…We'll fly there?"_

"_**Yes…now get on."**_

_Picking up my jaw from the floor, I made my way toward Elassan and climbed up upon his scale back. Despite the silver color of his scales, his back was actually quite warm…almost to a scorching degree. Something I didn't see while I was on the ground were the small spikes that were growing from his lower back and all over his back._

"_**Comfortable?"**_

"_I…Think so," I said, gripping the scales._

"_**Then hang on."**_

_Those were the only warning I have gotten before the large dragon took off into the sky. Doubling the strength in my grip, I held on for dear life as the two massive leathery wings batted on either side of me with my eyes closed, praying that I won't fall. However, Elassan leveled within his flying and wind were now rustling through my hair. _

_Then I opened my eyes taking in the sight that we were flying in the clouds. Breathing heavily from the shock of what had just happened, I glanced around myself seen nothing but clouds and the blue sky all around me. Chancing a glance toward the ground, all I saw where the passing trees below that resembled blade of grass given just how high we were. My eyes were round with amazement as I took in the sight that I was seeing._

_A sight that I was seeing flying on the back of a Dragon._

"_Woah," I whispered shocked._

_Elassan must have heard me for I saw he turned his head to look toward my direction out of the corner of my eyes but I wasn't looking at him, my attention was upon the amazing sight that I was taking in. After an hour of flying, Elassan started to lower down toward a part of a forest which had a large lake beside it. The Dragon came down upon the ground shaking the earth beneath him and then I descended from his back._

"_You'll teach me here?" I asked him glancing at the Dragon._

"_**Yes, get ready I have a little time to turn you into a force that is strong enough to battle against a Dragon and win," **__he said._

"_Why?"_

"_**Belserion feel like they would be an attack in seven months," **__Elassan spoke out looking at me, "__**He is hardly wrong in these matters. We feel like the Dragons will gave that push that will destroy any hope for us."**_

"_I thought that the battle was in a stalemate?"_

"_**It won't be forever," **__Elassan said with a light huff, "__**We don't know just how you humans will react to learning our magic…or if it is even compatible. Lady Irene was able to but she is an Enchantress…her magic gave her an edge…you however, you're not…thought I am sure you can use magic."**_

_I frowned lightly._

"_I…mostly use magic items," I told him, "Like a magic sword and other stuff…but I don't have a magic of my own"_

_Elassan let out a soft hum._

"_**Then we can use your magic as a base…at least, we won't start at completely zero," **__he said crossing his large arms seating upon it's back legs, "__**Now then, Aesyr, yesterday Belserion told you my name but my full name is Elassan, The Silver Flame Dragon."**_

_I blinked._

"_Silver Flame?" I repeated, "You're a Fire Dragon?"_

"_**Most Dragons are elementals in the magic we are born from," **__Elassan answered me, "__**Now the way you are going to learn to use my magic is to use the Ethernano within me and combine it with yours. That will help your body to adapt to my magic in a way as we start the lesson."**_

_I blinked, confused._

"_Can I just learn it normally?"_

_Elassan let out a small hum._

"_**If such magic could be learnt so easily…don't you think people would have done it already?"**_

_I crossed my arms._

"_I see your point," I murmured, "I am ready to learn."_

"_**Hold out your hand," **__Elassan spoke out._

_I did as he asked and then the Silver Dragon did the same, his clawed hands suddenly filled with magic causing the area around us to hum lightly with the magic. And then, a single shining orb of magic flew out of his palm and aimed straight toward me, falling within my hand._

"_**This is the First Step we are going through in learning to use my power Aesyr," **__Elassan spoke out, "__**Learn well…"**_

_And that was how my magic training begun under Elassan's teaching. The magic was nothing like I ever felt before as he combined his magic with mine which allowed me to use it and learning on how to control the magic. It was quite a shocking experience to feel the changes that were done to my body during the months of the training._

_My hearing has gotten sharp, that I could heard from across the forest and even my sense of smell grew stronger as well able to take the many smells of the forest around me quite well. I mentioned the changes that were happening to me to Elassan when I first noticed them and he sound like he was expecting it._

"_**I told you before, the magic is changing your body to be more like a Dragon," **__he said, "__**It's just something you are going to have to get used to be able to do now…I must say, for the past four months…you have gotten good at using my magic but there is a way to see if you are truly ready to battle against a Dragon."**_

_He stared down at me._

"_**You will fight against me with all your strength understand," **__he said, his eyes showing how serious he was, "__**Do not hold anything back."**_

_I nodded at him, feeling a little excited at the notion of fighting against a real life Dragon thought I was apprehensive as well, but this is what he was training me for._

_I can't hold back at all when we fought._

* * *

"_**Is that the best you've got?"**_

_I was bleeding in many places I stood in front of the Dragon who was looking down at me with calm eyes. In the many months I spent with him, I can now distinguish the emotions that were within that gaze of his. He looked almost disappointed as he was staring at me._

"_**Is that the limit of your resolve?"**_

_I couldn't answer him at all. _

"_**You are still too weak for this power…," **__Elassan spoke out, his tone hard, "__**I would have believed after so many months of training and given how much you've grown, you would have been able to give me a good fight despite being human…but then I guess…you don't have enough resolve yet."**_

_I didn't say anything. What could I say in that moment? Given all the months that I have been training, I thought that I would have been strong enough to fight against a dragon even if it was just training and yet…fighting against Elassan today showed me just how wrong I was…_

_It showed just how big the gap was between men and Dragon._

Was I even progressing at all?

"_**We will stop here for today," **__the Dragon spoke out, "__**Go take care of your wounds and rest up."**_

_I simply nodded at him and Elassan took off to the sky, probably to hunt or get something for himself to eat. I walked toward where I had my tent, feeling disappointed and completely at lost at what I need to do._

_Night had fallen when I was done taking care of my wounds and even as I laid in my coat, I couldn't sleep at all. With the thoughts running in my head about my training and what I needed to do, I couldn't rest so I stepped out and made my way toward the large lake that was not too far away from us. The moon was out in the sky, bathing everything in a silver light._

_I took a seat upon a fallen branch looking out toward the calm water, staring down at my hands. They were calloused, not very feminine at all. These hands were not the hands of a delicate girl…but the hands of a warrior and yet, how can I be one when I can't even fight a Dragon?_

_The familiar sound of Elassan's footsteps drew my attention toward him for a moment but I returned my gaze toward the water again._

"_**I would have thought you'd be asleep by now," **__the Dragon spoke out._

_I shook my head._

"_I couldn't sleep," I answered, "Too much on my mind."_

_The Dragon let out a soft hum at that._

"_**On nights like these, one could almost forget there is a war going on," **__he mused softly._

_A silence settled between us as I didn't answer him, too much things going on within my mind. Was I even worthy of being given this power? Did I even progress at all? Is the Queen going to be disappointed I wasted the chance she had given me?_

"_**Why didn't you refuse that day?" **_

_The sudden question startled me out of my thoughts. I looked up toward Elassan who was staring down at me with a curious look in his gaze._

"_That day?" I repeated, not getting what he was angling for._

"_**Back when I chose you to learn to use my power," **__he asked, "__**You could have refused and no one would have thought any less of you…but you didn't, why is that?"**_

_I turned my gaze away from him, looking back at the water. Despite the months we've spent training together, I had never once revealed to him what had happened to my village._

_But maybe it's time to tell him._

"_My village was attacked by Dragons," I answered him, "I was…about six years old at the time when it happened. I sometimes have nightmares about what happened back then…Ace and I were the only survivors found over seven hundred people….only two little children… I thought that if I learned to use your power, I could have done something to avenge their deaths…but our battle made me realize just how unattainable that goal is…"_

_I can feel tears falling from my eyes._

"_I hate them for taking my family away from me…so why is it that I can't progress at all?"_

"_**I am also a Dragon from the West," **__Elassan spoke out._

_I suddenly looked at him shocked at the revelation._

"_What?"_

"_**You are not the only one keeping secrets Aesyr," **__he said and I swore he had a sad smile upon his features, "__**Do you hate me now? For being the same as the one who took your family away from you?"**_

_I stood up from where I was seating looking at him with wide shocked eyes. Elassan was from the west as well but how come he is so…friendly with humans. All I have heard about the Dragons of the west was that they hated humans and thought that they were nothing but pests or vermin._

"_Why don't you hate humans then?"_

"_**I don't really mind them," **__Elassan said with a light shrug of his wings, "__**Sure I am not saying that every human is good, but I have never really minded their presences at all. Where I am from, I have made many friends among the humans there…. thought I doubt many are still alive today."**_

_I blinked._

"_How come?"_

"_**I doubt any humans can live past a hundred years," **__the Dragon said softly, "__**I was planning to head back when Belserion contacted about the situation here…I wonder how much it had changed in my absence. Thought it never stopped fascinating me at how quickly humans can change. As long lived as I am, I still find myself learning about them and it made me realized that us Dragons are no different than the humans…both intelligent species trying to make our lives in the world."**_

"_Then…why does the Dragons want to kill us?" I asked._

"_**Arrogance mostly…," **__he said, "__**And with the powers that we have, it's quite easy for a Dragon to completely dominate the place they're in, if so willing. It's so easy for that power to corrupt even the oldest of us…"**_

_I looked down at the ground._

"_**And I never said that you were weak Aesyr," **__he told me._

_I looked at him, shocked at the revelation._

"_What?"_

"_**You have my power within you…and you've grown quite a lot from when we first started this training," **__Elassan continued, "__**And like I said earlier…you lack resolve. You said that you wanted vengeance against the ones who took your home from you and yet, while you may hate them, you don't have resolve yet."**_

"_Then how do I find my resolve?" I asked._

_Elassan let out a hearty chuckle before looking at me dead in the eyes._

"_**Then let me ask you Aesyr Assan…**_**What are you fighting for?"**

* * *

_That question plagued me for days as the training resumed. What was I fighting for? Wasn't it already obvious? I was fighting for Dragnov…for Queen Irene to make sure that there was a future for our kingdom in this terrible war we've found ourselves in._

_Yet, something inside of me told me that wasn't the case._

_And I didn't have time to figure it out at all…_

"_**Elassan,"**_

_The voice drew both our attention toward the direction it came from. It was another Dragon who had come to land where we were training. Elassan turned his gaze toward the Dragon with a confused look upon his face._

"_**Darthmir, what are you doing here? Did something happen?"**_

_Darthmir was a green scaled dragon, smaller than Elassan's form probably younger as well but the panic that was in the dragon's voice drew both of our attention._

"_**It's bad…the Dragon from the west…they are going to attack again."**_

_Elassan was surprised and even I was shocked._

"_What? But I thought we had another month till they attacked?" I said approaching the Dragon._

"_**The words came from Belserion himself," **__Darthmir said, "__**He said we had to move out with the humans we were training. It's time to fight."**_

_Elassan stayed silent for a long moment, his eyes looked thoughtful for a few moments before he spoke out._

"_**If Belserion think they will attack earlier than expected, then we have no choice but to head out to the battle," **__he said, "__**It will seem we'll be heading into battle sooner than I expected. Go and tell Belserion that I will come back quick."**_

_The Dragon nodded before taking off into the air leaving the two of us behind. I was shocked at what we had just heard. If the Dragons are going to attack much sooner than we expected, then the people that were trained by Dragons like me…we'll be heading into the battlefield…_

"_**Be ready Aesyr," **__Elassan said drawing my gaze toward him, __**"We head out to war tomorrow."**_

* * *

**Soon to be heading to war...**

**Next Time: **The End of the Beginning.

**Jacques0 out.**

**R&R**


	5. The End of the Beginning

**Hey guys, here is the next update of this fanfiction. Hope you have been enjoying the story so far.**

**Anyway, enjoy the read.**

**Chapter Cover: **Aesyr standing back to back with a man in a long black cloak and long blue hair...

Chapter Five

The End of the Beginning

_With the news of the coming attack reaching Dragnov, we returned to the capital had full haste. All of the Dragons and the people who had trained to learn the magic of the Dragon had returned and outfitted with armor for the upcoming battle. It was a mixture of robes and armor with the symbol of the Dragon emblazed upon our front._

_The new armor was light upon my form I was nervous about the upcoming battle against the Dragons. Even here in Dragnov, where Dragons and humans lived in harmony with one another, we always knew how powerful the Dragons truly were. Despite learning the power of the Dragon these past few months since then, there was one thought in all of our mind…_

_Can we really have any difference into this war?_

"_You look different than before," a familiar voice spoke out._

_I turned my gaze toward it finding Ace there. The young man was dressed in similar armor as mine, the look upon his face calm despite knowing we'll be heading out to war in a few hours. His spiky hair seems to have gotten even more unruled in the months since I have seen him and I couldn't help the smile that grew upon my lips at the sight of him._

"_Ace…," I whispered._

"_You look strong," he said simply._

_I stared at him, taking him in. _

"_You do as well."_

_Ace let out a small huff._

"_Then don't die out there," he said before turning around and walking off._

_I stared at his back for a few moments, surprised at the words but then somehow, a warm feeling grew inside my heart. He came all this way just to check on me and despite him not being all buddy buddy with his feelings, I guess deep down within himself, he is still that same boy I knew way back then._

"_You come back safe too Ace," I spoke out to him and thanks to the newly Dragon like hearing that we have, I am sure that he heard my words._

"_**Aesyr."**_

_I turned away from him and walked toward Elassan. The Silver Flame Dragon was looking down at me with an indiscernible look in his eyes. I blinked up at him in confusion at the look._

"_Is something wrong?" I asked him._

_Elassan shook his head._

"_**There is nothing wrong," **__the Dragon said, "__**There was something that I was meant to give you at the end of your training…but since we never reached it…Here."**_

_He extended his large hand down at me and dropped something in my hand. It was a coin, I realized taking notice of it and upon it was the symbol of the Dragon that was upon form. I stared at it for a few moments before turning it over looking at the word that was upon it's back._

"_Dragmount?" I read._

"_**It's an old tradition from my homeland," **__Elassan spoke out, "__**Those who prove themselves worthy warriors of Dragmount were given such coins as proof of their status. It's akin to something like an object of pride."**_

_I stared up at him in shock at what he was giving me._

"_And…you're giving me this?" I said shocked._

_Elassan nodded._

"_**The way this has happened may not have been how I envisioned it, but you have managed to not only learn my magic and be proficient at it," **__the dragon spoke, "__**You have done well to learn it Aesyr and I think that a reward like that is more than enough in my eyes."**_

_I was lost for words at the gesture he had showed me._

"_Thank you…Elassan," I said after a while, "I'll treasure this."_

_The Dragon nodded and just like that, a few hours later we were headed into war._

* * *

_The battlefield was a disaster zone. The earth was scorched and destroyed in the worse way. It was completely unrecognizable as the area was completely different than anything I have ever seen before. Despite how much I have trained, I have never realized just how destructive the power of the Dragons could be._

_And now I wielded that power as well…_

_When Lady Irene gave the order, we all launched forward into the battle with the Dragons soaring above us. The enemy Dragons were flying as well thought they were some that were on the ground. Seeing humans among the Dragons, they weren't even taking us seriously at all._

_I stared up toward the Dragon in front of me. It was brown scaled as his glowing eyes stared down at me with a jaws filled with teeth._

"_**Humans should remember their place," **__the Dragon growled, "__**You'll make a light snack in the middle of this battle."**_

_I gathered magic within me._

"_**You really think your magic will be enough against me? There is no magic in this world that you can wield that can surpass that of a Dragon…you're nothing but insignificant creatures that are at the bottom of the food chains…"**_

_I took a deep breath and then I roared…expelling a large blast of magic straight out of my mouth aiming straight at the Dragon in front of me. the Dragon let out a surprised yell at my magic as the breath attack tore through him right in the middle causing him to yell out in shock._

_The Dragon crumble down upon the ground, completely taken aback by what had just happened to him. His eyes stared at me in shock at what I had just done._

"_**How…a human with the power to kill…a Dragon…How?"**_

_I stared at him._

"_You Dragon think you can take anything you want…well, you and your kind are going to learn that underestimating humans is the worst mistake you can ever make in your lives."_

_I turned away from the Dragon and made my way forward once more._

_End of flashback_

Aesyr placed the empty cup upon the table in front of her. Ellis and Helen were both looking at her with surprised looks upon their features at what she was revealing. It was still hard for them to phantom that such things were possible as the young woman was telling them her story.

"The battle that day lasted for hours," Aesyr spoke out, "And when the sun rose on the following morning, for the first time since the Dragons invaded Ishgar, there was a victory for the Dragons that wanted coexistence with humans. That first victory brought hope back to us that we could win the war…that the gamble Belserion had bear fruits that would help in the long run."

She looked up at them all, a small smile working its way upon her lips.

"The next few months," she continued, "We were winning the war, pushing back the enemies that invaded our Kingdom. We got good at it…very good at killing Dragons, so good that the people of Ishgar started calling us _Dragon Slayers. _We bore the name with pride for what we were doing was for the good of our country…"

Aesyr trailed off. Helen must have sensed something for her eyes narrowed lightly.

"What happened?" she asked.

The look on Aesyr's face was grave.

"_It all changed."_

_Flashback_

_I was on Elassan's back as we flew through the air. My long hair was tied in a ponytail thought that didn't help with the bangs which were falling on either side of my face. I was dressed in my Dragon Slayer armor with a light frown upon my face._

"_**You've been quiet since we left," **__Elassan spoke out, "__**Something's on your mind?"**_

_I let out a small frown._

"_The war will be over soon won't it?" I asked, "With the way the Dragon Slayers have turned the tide, it won't be long before the Dragons of the West are defeated."_

"_**That's true,"**__ Elassan answered with a light hum, "__**When the war is finally over, I will return home back to Atlasia."**_

_I stayed silent for a moment._

"_Do you think I could come with you?"_

_Elassan turned his head and I can see his eye looking at me, looking a bit surprised._

"_**You want to come with me?"**_

_I blushed lightly under his gaze._

"_I mean…I have never been outside of Ishgar before," I said, "And we've been working together for months now and it's going to feel weird not having you around anymore…we're partners after all…and it's only right that I can…"_

"_**Aesyr," **__Elassan interrupted before I could descend into a full-blown babble, "__**I will be glad to have a friend along."**_

_I feel my eyes widen lightly at the words. _He considers me a friend?

_Elassan had been fighting side by side with me months now. It was his power that made me what I am today, a Dragon Slayer able to fight for something more than herself. A soft light smile worked it's way upon my lips at the thought. I did consider the Dragon a friend of mine and it seems that the feeling wasn't all one-sided._

"_Alright," I smiled, "We'll head out to Atlasia together…as friends."_

_Elassan let out a deep rumble but I knew that it was because he was laughing. I couldn't help the small smile that grew upon my lips at that. Yeah, I had lost everything I ever had in Ishgar and maybe, I'll be able to find something like that again if I lived with Elassan…_

Yeah…once this war is over…

_Then a smell hit my nose causing me to blink. It was a smell I had become quite familiar in the many months within the war and from how Elassan reacted, he recognized the smell as well. The smell of death and destruction._

"_Was there an attack?" I asked shocked._

"_**It's coming from the direction of the outpost," **__Elassan spoke out._

_Elassan sped up his flying as we came across where the outpost was situated. What we found was nothing more than destruction with the ground littered with the bodies of the Dragons that were there. Elassan landed down upon the ground as I quickly jumped from his back and unto the ground. All of those Dragons, I recognized them as the ones that supported the coexistence between humans and Dragons…but how did something like this could have happened?_

"_How could this have happened…was it a surprise attack from the enemy…?" I said shocked._

_Elassan was looking around._

"_**I don't see any Dragon Slayers," **__he said._

_I gave him a glance before searching through the area and sure enough, I noticed that Elassan was right. There were no human bodies within the area at all…all that was around us were the dead bodies of the Dragons._

"_But where could they have gone?" I asked, "Could they have escaped the battle…"_

"_**El…Elas…Elassan…," **__a voice cried out._

_The two of us turned toward it, finding a familiar green scaled Dragon there. Darthmir was missing his legs as well as one of his wings as he lied there. I quickly ran toward him and when I got closer, I saw that his stomach was also bleeding heavily from a wound there. It was like something had made a hole through his stomach, blood dripping from his jaws._

"_Darthmir," I yelled._

"_**My friend," **__Elassan spoke out, "__**You're hurt badly…If only Grandeeney was here, maybe she could have…"**_

_The green Dragon let out a grumble._

"_**I wouldn't survive long enough…to get to her…," **__Darthmir spoke out._

"_Just what had happened?" I asked, "When we last heard from you, your team managed to clear out this area of enemies…how did something like that happened?"_

_His eyes turned toward me, and there was a flash of something within that gaze something I didn't recognize but his gaze turned toward Elassan._

"_**We were wrong Elassan," **__he said, "__**We shouldn't…have taught human our magic…"**_

_I was shocked at the words. From beside me, Elassan was just as surprised._

"_**What are you saying Darthmir? This was the only way to turn the tide in the war…and the humans have been fighting side by side with us for months now…what could have changed…?"**_

_Darthmir shook his head._

"_**The humans…they were the ones that did this," **__Darthmir told us, shocking us to our core, "__**They were the ones that turned upon us…the humans went mad…"**_

_I stayed silent staring at the Dragon. But that was impossible…there is no way that something like that could. I glanced at Elassan but the Dragon was silent, his eyes contemplating the idea of what could have happened._

"_**I'm sorry Darthmir…I never imagined something like that could have happened," **__he said softly._

_Darthmir didn't answer him. I turned toward the green Dragon but it was still, no longer breathing. I stared at the large creature in front of me, completely taken aback by what had just happened. How could the Dragon Slayers do something so despicable? Weren't we all fighting on the same side? For coexistence between human and dragon?_

"_Elassan…what is happening?" I asked softly._

_The dragon didn't answer me at all and on the way back to Dragnov, the journey was tense and quiet._

_Within myself, I was worried. If the magic of the dragons cause people to go mad…then could this happen to me as well? Could it happen to Ace too?_

_I needed to find him…to make sure that he was okay._

_If this world was starting to change…_

_Then I need to find him…_

"_Elassan…can you do me a favor?" I asked._

"_**What is it?"**_

"_I need to find Ace's team," I told him, "He shouldn't be too far from where we are passing right now and maybe he can shed some light into what's going on? He had been out there for months now compared to us who were stationed at the Capital…maybe he can make us understand just what had happened?"_

_Elassan stayed silent for a moment._

"_**Getting some information will be beneficial," **__he said, "__**However we need to be careful as well. If something dangerous is happening to the Dragon Slayers as a whole…I wonder if it could be a side-effect of learning our magic."**_

_I stared at him._

"_You don't think something like that will happen to me…will you?"_

"_**It can happen," **__Elassan said giving me a sideway glance, "__**However, since we'll be traveling together. Maybe I can find a way to help you manage whatever is going on."**_

_I smiled lightly._

"_Thank you Elassan."_

_Then in the distance, a sudden explosion took place drawing both of our attentions toward it. I gasped in shock noticing that it was coming from the area where Ace's base was. Elassan sped up and landed down upon the ground noticing the many Dragons that were dead on the ground…many of them being our friends._

"_No," I said shocked._

_I landed down upon the ground in a crouch glancing and searching the battlefield for Ace but he was nowhere to be found. I ran forward as Elassan flew above me, searching as well for what could have done this but there was no sign of anyone…anywhere until I caught sight of one of the Dragon Slayer upon the ground._

"_Hey…are you okay?" I asked him pulling him in my arms, "What had happened here?"_

_The man was dying as he stared at me. He mouthed some words but I couldn't understand him at all, for his voice was too weak to reach me._

_Then I smell a presence behind me causing to glance toward it. A man stood there with a scowl upon his features as he was staring down at me. he had dark skin as well with long blue hair that were oddly spiky. He had a long black cloak upon his form as well as a strange necklace made out of seemingly bones. His eyes stared down at me, blue almost black with the glare that was being directed at me._

"_Who…are you?" I said shocked._

"_You smell like a dragon," the man said looking at me with contempt in his voice._

What?

_The man suddenly raised one of his hand and magic engulfed my entire body causing me to yell out in pain at what was happening to me. I flew through the air and landed down on the ground upon my side, wincing in pain._

What the hell was that…that magic…He is a Dragon Slayer, but I don't recognize him…

_I pulled myself up to my knees and then a large shadow of Elassan landed down in between us. The man stared up at him, the look on his face becoming even more bloodthirsty as he stared up at the Dragon in front of him._

"_Dragon," he growled, a dark grin growing upon his lips._

_In front of my very eyes, the mysterious enemy launched an attack straight at Elassan, tearing through the Dragon's body as blood flew everywhere as he yelled out in pain…_

"_ELASSAN," I screamed._

* * *

**The tragedy of the Dragon Slayers begin...**

**Next Time: **Minotaur

**Jacques0 out.**

**R&R**


	6. Minotaur

**Hey guys, here is the next chapter of Child of the Dragon. **

**But anyway, enjoy this chapter.**

**Chapter Cover: **the back of a figure wearing a fur coat upon his form and with Aesyr seating on the ground behind him.

Chapter Six

Minotaur

_The Great silver Dragon I knew let out a yell of pain at the sudden attack that had happened. I stood there shocked at what I was seeing completely frozen. Elassan fell down upon the ground, blood flying everywhere as he laid there in pain and since he wasn't defending himself, the new arrival took advantage of that and now, he was down._

"_Elassan," I yelled running toward him, "Elassan…"_

"_Aesyr…," the Dragon groaned._

_I turned my gaze toward the man, feeling rage rising through me._

"_What the hell did you do that for?" I yelled at him, "He is our ally."_

_The man narrowed his eyes._

"_The Dragons are not my allies," he said, "They are our enemies…and I will wipe them out."_

Just who is this guy? _I thought, looking at him in shock, _He is using Dragon Slayer magic… but I have never seen him before in our ranks. Is he a new recruit that I have never met or…

_I shook my head from those thoughts._

Damn Aesyr…there is no time to think about that. Elassan is hurt. I don't know any healing magic…and if I tried to help him, I don't think this guy is going to stand aside and let me work…Then, the only thing I can do in this moment…is to defeat that man.

"_Elassan…hang in there," I told him, "I'll take care of this guy quickly."_

"_**Aesyr…, this man… he is on a completely different level than you are," **__The Dragon spoke out from behind me, his voice laced with pain._

"_Is that so?" I murmured, narrowing my eyes, "Well then, that means I won't have to hold anything back…I'll finish this up and get you to Grandeeney."_

_The man's eyes narrowed at me._

"_You will fight to protect this Dragon as well?" he said, "Then you will die."_

_Magic swirled around me as silver scales formed upon my arms and legs. With a yell, I charged into battle and the man charged at my direction as well causing us to clash and the ground deterred around us as the blast of our magic clashed against each other. The battle was the fiercest battle I have ever fought in. Elassan was right in saying this man was on a completely different level for his attacks came quick and hard and the longer we fight the more powerful he seems to grow._

_However, I was holding my own well. I have fought in many battlefields against many Dragons in the past and I have defeated them all. The guy may be strong, but I won't allow myself to fall against him, not when Elassan's life was hanging in the balance. That battle, is when I realized it, what Elassan was trying to teach me that night so long ago._

_When he asked me what I was fighting for and I won't allow myself to fall at all today for I was fighting for my friend, my teacher, and the closest thing I had to a father figure since my own died long ago. I yelled out again launching a fist at the enemy in front of me, sending him backward._

_He landed across me in a crouch, his eyes narrowing._

_The ground around us was completely destroyed from our long battle and I was huffing with how much magic I was using. I was tired and running low on magic and from how out of breath the guy across me was, he seems to be the same as me._

"_You…You're strong," he said, "But you're completely out of magic power…"_

"_I can do this all day," I growled at him, raising my fist again, "I won't let you take him from me."_

_The man narrowed his eyes at me._

"_You would risk this much for him?"_

"_He is my friend and my teacher," I said, "I will always stand and fight for him."_

_The man's eyes narrowed at my words._

"_Your friend?" he repeated, "Dragons can't be our friends…all they need to do is to be put in the ground where they all belong."_

_Magic exploded from around the man, and I can feel my eyes widening at the amount of power that he has within him. I joined both of my hands together forming a symbol with them as magic started to gather around my body, I can feel the strain it is putting on me because of how little magic power that I had but I was going to put everything on the line to protect Elassan from him._

I will not move….not until my enemy falls….

_The blast of magic overcame everything and that was the last thing I saw that day._

_When I next became aware, I was laying in a bed in the hospital room. Blinking I made to move but my body surged with pain causing to let out a gasp. I feel bandages around my torso as well as my face. Just moving as I was doing right now felt painful._

"_You're awake," a familiar voice spoke out._

_I slowly turned toward the direction, finding Ace standing at the window. The young man was staring out toward it with his hair in a ponytail despite the spike that was growing everywhere. He glanced back toward me, those black eyes of his meeting my own._

"_Welcome back," he said simply._

"_Ace…," I whispered._

_The young man moved away from the window and came to stand by my bedside. He had a light frown upon his features as he was staring down at me, his eyes roaming my face. His frown seems to have lessened, a lot._

"_You look strange with silver hair," he spoke out._

_I blinked in confusion._

"_What?"_

_He reached out, taking a some of my hair and placing it in front of my eyes for me to see. Instead of the black stress that I remembered always having since I was a child, it was now pure silver. I stared at it in shock, unable to believe that it was really my hair._

"_Really…my hair changed color…?"_

"_The healer theorized that you must have overused your magic," Ace said letting go of the hair, "and it changed something within you."_

_I stayed silent for a moment, then suddenly remembered why I was hurt in the first place. The battle against that strange man…Elassan._

"_Elassan," I said looking at him, "Is he okay?"_

_Ace let out a sigh._

"_He is dead."_

_I froze._

What?

"_How…?"_

"_He was dead when we arrived," Ace said looking at me, "You were in a pretty bad shape too and would have died without medical assistance."_

_I stayed there shocked at what I was hearing. How could he have died? I was there protecting him…_

_Ace moved away from where I was._

"_Get some rest," he said, "You're going to need it."_

_The young man made his way out of the room._

"_Was I…the only one you found?" I asked._

_Ace glanced back at me._

"_Yes," he said, and then he left the room._

_End of flashback_

Aesyr placed her empty cup of tea upon the table. The young woman traced the side of the cup with her finger, not looking up toward the two that were with her. The sun had long since set with the candle the only thing lighting the room around them.

"It wasn't long after that what was happening to the Dragon Slayers became public," she continued, "And more and more Dragons started to fall to one that succumb to their powers. The few that still remained were forced to hunt down those who were our friends with other soldiers to put them down…Dragon Slayers became things to be feared and with the Dragon Hunter Acnologia's madness overtaking the land, Lady Irene had no choice but to let go the few that remained…"

Aesyr let out a small sigh.

"To the world, we were nothing but monsters like Acnologia," she said, "Ace disappeared shortly after that and with nothing holding me in Ishgar anymore, I decided to come here to Atlasia and maybe, I'll be able to see what Elassan's home was like…"

I looked toward the two people that were across me, both of them were ashen expressions.

"And here we are," she said.

Ellis looked down on the ground.

"Lord Elassan…is dead?" he said shocked.

Aesyr lowered her head, feeling responsible for his death after all, it had been her responsibility to protect him and she had failed.

"I'm sorry," she said, "If only I was stronger…he wouldn't have…"

A silence fell over the group.

* * *

**Meanwhile**

**Hyades Village**

It was a quiet night within the village. It had been only an hour since the sun had set and the villagers were already making their way into their homes so that they could prepare supper or simply enjoy the comfort of home before heading to bed for tonight.

However, tonight standing on a light hill overlooking the village was a group of men all of them dressed in light clothing with their gaze fixed upon the village with amused smirks upon their features.

"So, this is the place then?" one of the men spoke out.

He had black hair styled into a mohawk with a spike necklace around his neck. He was dressed in black clothing, his shirt having only a single sleeve. He had a long face, his lips oddly enough were painted blue as well as nails which he was using to scratch his ears.

**Azil Bruzzer**

**Minotaur Commander**

"The information was sound Azil," another man spoke, "Now if only Karmer was here, then all three Commanders of Minotaur would be taking place within this battle."

This one was wearing a white coat upon his form as his blue hair fell upon a side of his face. He had a lone blue eye which was staring down toward the direction of the village. He had both of his hands behind his back which were both gloved.

**Saul Marz**

**Minotaur Commander**

Azil gave him a glance.

"For the boss to send both of us here," he said, "Well, let's not keep him waiting any longer."

Saul gave him a light nod before moving forward.

"Take out the soldiers first," he said, "You and I will scour the town for the target."

The group around them nodded before they all charged forward into the town. Both of the Commanders followed after them moving at more sedate pace as the yells and screams were starting to rise around the village from the sudden attack that was happening around them.

Fire rose from the houses as bodies littered the ground, killed from their men's sudden attack thought most of them were soldiers that were defending the village. Saul continued walking forward and noticed that his companion was no longer at his side probably having gone off by himself somewhere thought.

As Saul continued to walk through the village, a sound drew his attention behind him and then found a man attacking him from above. He instantly raised his hand blocking the blade that came at him before the armored soldier that attacked him moved back.

Saul stared at him. The man across him was old, with white hair and line upon his face indicating his age. He was dressed in similar armor as the local of this village but, the look on his face and his eyes. There was no fear in that gaze at all…only determination to win this upcoming battle.

"It takes a lot of skills to be able to sneak up on me," he said, "I'm guessing you're not a simple average soldier."

"You're Minotaur's lackey, aren't you?" the old man said, "Just how many lives are you going to destroy before you are satisfied with what you have."

Saul moved his hand behind his back.

"My master's orders are absolute," he said, "If someone like you is in this village…that makes me think that the information about this place is true."

The man tightened his grip upon his sword in his grasp.

"I don't care why you are here," he said, "I will stop you here and now."

Saul narrowed his eyes as the man charged toward him with his blade. A slight smile worked it's way upon his lips as he spun his palm forward as light started to appear around it.

"**Burst," **he said.

A massive blast of magic completely overcame to man as well as the large area around them completely destroying them all. As the smoke dissipated, Saul blinked finding the old man still upon his fist, despite the marks upon his armor as well as his face as he had his sword in a blocking motion thought the sword was glowing as well.

"It would seem that I was right in thinking that you weren't a ordinary old man," he said, "You have experience fighting wizards."

The old man's sword glowed with magic again as he aimed the blade toward him.

"**Magic Terrier," **he yelled out.

The magic blast charged straight toward Saul who joined both of his hands together as they were glowing with magic power. Then he launched both of them forward.

"**Double Palm Burst," **he said.

The magic torn through the attack the old man had launched toward him causing the old man to yell out in pain as blood flew from the wounds that were upon his body. Saul made his way forward placing both of his hands behind his back.

"Now then," he said, "How about you and I talk old man…or should I say, Crescent Knight Captain, Bartholomew?"

* * *

In another part of the village, a young woman was running through a forest leaving the village behind. She was wearing a long cloak upon her body, hiding her hair from it. The young woman had large green eyes, her mouth lightly opened as she was breathing heavily through her pink lips.

She glanced behind her, looking in the direction of the village seeing the tall tower of smokes rising in the darkness. Tears shone in her eyes as she looked at it, before turning her attention away from it, her lips wobbling lightly from the feelings that were burning within her.

_Please…be alright, uncle Bart, _she thought.

"Leaving so soon?"

The girl instantly turned her gaze toward the voice finding a man there with a mohawk. The man had a light smirk upon his lips as he was staring at her with both of his hands at shoulder height.

"And here I thought you royal type were honorable," he continued, "But then again, you haven't been a royal for years haven't you?"

The girl stepped back.

"Who are you?" she asked, "What you do want?"

The man stepped closer to her.

"Who am I?" he said, "Well, I am Azil as for what I want…the boss is the one that wants ya girly."

She stepped back a little.

"Pleasure to meet you, Yael Salvatore."

* * *

**Somewhere…**

A man was standing upon a balcony by himself as he was staring out toward the lands in front of him. this man had wild hair with a small smirk upon his lips. He was wearing an animal skin shirt upon his body thought it was sleeveless showing off his well muscled arms.

_They'll return soon with my prize, _he thought, _and then, through her, I will find one of the most powerful treasure that the fallen family had tried to hide._

The man let out a grin.

"With that power in my hand, not even _they _would be able to stand in my way," he laughed, "I will be able to control all of Atlasia as it's new King. The Minotaur Empire has a nice ring to it…"

The man raised is hand toward the sky, almost like he his going to grasp the crescent shaped moon in the sky.

"The Dragon Heart will soon be in my grasp," he grinned darkly.

**Fallen God**

**Beast Eater Minotaur**

* * *

**A menace stir...**

**Next Time: **A Collision of Events

**Jacques0 out.**

**R&R**


	7. A Collision of Events

**Hey guys, here is the next update in this fic. Sorry for the long time wihtout updating but anyway, enjoy the read.**

**Chapter Cover: **Shinji dressed in modern clothing as he was wearing a Fairy Tail jacket with some other Fairy Tail characters in the background.

Chapter Seven

Collision of Events

She groaned softly as she was slowly coming to. Blinking, she stared up at an unfamiliar ceiling for a few seconds before she became aware that she wasn't looking at the ceiling of her home but something that was not familiar at all.

That was how Yael Salvatore woke up, glancing around herself in surprise at the room she was in.

It was a fairly simple room, which was completely devoid of any decoration at all and since they were was no window, it was hard to tell just where she was right now. Inside the room, however, there was a small table which had some breakfast placed in a bowl and from the smell, it was probably freshly cooked.

_How did I get here?_

Yael was seating upon the bed, her long blond hair falling upon her shoulders. The young woman glanced around herself for a few moments as she walked around the room taking in everything. The last thing she actually remembers was meeting that strange man back when she was escaping the village's attack. Yael looked down at the ground as she thought about the village and what had happened and it caused some tears to fall from her eyes at the thought of all those villagers being killed by Minotaur's men.

The door at the end of the room was suddenly opened and the same man from the village stood there at the entrance of the room. He had both of his hands into his pocket as he stared into the room, and chanced a glance toward the plate of food that was untouched.

"Guess you aren't hungry," he said, "Or maybe did you think we poisoned it?"

A grin was upon his face as he stared at her, and Yael stared back.

"Where am I?" she asked.

"You're at the Labyrinth," the man told her with a light shrug of his shoulders, "Anyway, the boss wants to talk to you so come on."

Yael blinked in surprise.

_The boss…could he mean…_

"You work for Minotaur don't you?"

The man smirked lightly at her.

"Well, Princess got her information right," he said, "I work for Minotaur, one of his Commanders actually, Azil Bruzzer at your service, Princess Yael Salvatore."

A look of fear crossed the young woman's face as she was staring at him, shocked. There is no way they could have known who she really was. Her disbelief must have shown upon her features for the man, Azil let out a large grin.

"Oh…don't worry, we know exactly whose child you are," he laughed, "C'mon…let's go the Boss is waiting to speak with you and he ain't a guy you'd like to keep waiting."

Yael was afraid, that much was true to her. She was worried about what happened to the Village she had grown up in or about her uncle Bart. Standing up, she pulled herself up on her feet and walked forward toward the man who let her walk forward and then, followed after her.

The hallway was actually pretty simple with torches to light up the way they were moving forward. She had heard people write stories about the Labyrinth, the place that Minotaur had made into his lair, but this place looked exactly like any other building she had seen thought, it feels more like a castle than an actual Labyrinth.

The man, Azil, led her straight into a large lush looking room that had a window with sunlight shining from the outside. A table was set in front of her with some foods visible to her and seeing the meal in front of her caused her stomach to grumble quite loudly in the dead silence around her.

"Help yourself Princess," a voice spoke out.

Yael jumped in shock at the sudden voice and turned to find a large man seating by himself upon a purple colored couch. He was simply seating by himself dressed in leather with fur upon his shoulder with the face of an animal oddly similar to a wolf. The man had spiky hair, oddly enough blond in color leaning more into the dirty blond color than normal. Even when he was seating normally, Yael can feel the danger rolling off the man in wave.

"I had a feast prepared worthy of someone of your stature," he said indicating at the table.

Yael looked into those yellow eyes that seemingly shone in the shade he was seating in.

"You're Minotaur then…," she asked.

The man chuckled deeply.

"I am," he said, "And you are Yael Salvatore, daughter of the last princess of Atlasia, Emma Salvatore correct?"

Yael was afraid.

_How did he know about this? How did he knew her real name…not even the villagers she had lived in all her life knew…Gods, the village…_

"Hyades Village," she asked, "Is it still…?"

"I have no real interest in the village itself," the man said, "You were my only target."

Yael stomach growled again, causing her to blush. Minotaur laughed loudly at her.

"Someone skipped breakfast I see," he said, "help yourself, it's been a while since I had some company for lunch."

Yael looked at the food and took a seat upon one of the empty chairs that were around it. She piled some upon her plate and decided to eat. It was surprisingly delicious she realized and couldn't help but eat some more. Footsteps caused her to look up finding Minotaur standing on the other side of the table looking down at her with a calculating gaze.

"I'm quite shocked that no one made the connection between you and the late Princess," he said, "You look just like her…but then again, the common folks didn't see the royal family that easily back in the day, do they? It took me quite a while to find you too…I raided so many villages looking for you and yet, for five years I never found you at all…"

Yael looked up at him shocked.

"Five years?"

_I heard a rumor saying that Minotaur's attack had increased these past five years around Dragmount lands…I didn't realize…_

"Why were you looking for me?" she asked.

Minotaur let out a small grin, walking around the table.

"The Salvatore Family had many secrets that died with them when they fell from power," he said, "Some I don't believe actually even existed, but there is one that always stuck with me ever since I was a young child. It was said long ago, a young princess of your bloodline saved a Dragon, which many theorized could have been the Dragon God those Dragon Knights worshipped."

Yael tensed lightly.

"That same Princess formed a friendship with that Dragon," he said, "And that friendship resulted into the Dragon gifting the Princess with a powerful magic."

He was now standing behind Yael, both of his hand on the side of the chair. He then leaned down to Yael's level, his mouth by her ears.

"You know of what I talk about don't you girl?" he whispered.

Yael was completely frozen where she sat. She had cold sweat running down her forehead as she suddenly realized in what position she was just in right now.

"It's just a story," she said, "An urban legend."

"Is that so?" Minotaur said softly.

Without warning, he grabbed Yael's hand pulling her off the chair which fell backward with how sudden she moved. Yael stared up at the taller man, fear palpable all over her form as those mercilessly calculating eyes stared at her.

"We just have to find out then…_won't we_?" he said with a large grin.

He pulled something out of his pocket and Yael closed her eyes, thinking she was going to get stabbed, however something was placed into her open palm, something hard and cold. When she reopened her eyes, she found herself staring at a strange crystal-like object that was roughly the size of a rock.

_That…_

As soon as the stone made contact with her palm, it started to glow a deep golden color causing Minotaur to laugh.

"The Stone respond to you," he said, "It responded to your magic…_the Magic of the Salvatore Family_."

The cheer joy that was in the man's tone was only matched to the pure terror that Yael was feeling in that moment. She couldn't believe that this man even had a stone like that given how rare they had become after the Salvatore Family had fallen.

The man pushed her away causing her to fall upon the ground in a hip, the mad grin upon his lips growing even larger now.

"You will be my guide Princess," he said glancing down at her with a grin, "You will lead me straight toward it, and just like that the Dragon Heart will soon be mine. With that magic under my control, I will be able to fully control Atlasia and none of the others will be able to stand in my way."

He let out a small chuckle.

"You best get comfortable Princess," he said, "_You're going to be here a while."_

* * *

Aesyr opened her eyes blinking softly for a moment. The young woman was in a bed, glancing around herself for a few moments as if trying to get her bearings for a moment before the reality started to sink in. She was in the room that Helen and Ellis had given her the previous night after she had told them her story and what had happened to Elassan.

Just thinking about the Dragon caused something to caught up in her throat. Elassan's death would always feel like her greatest failure in life. She had promised that she would protect him but, in the end, even that hadn't been enough for her to do anything. Shaking her head, the young woman stepped out of bed, her silver hair falling upon her shoulder, a reminded of what had happened to her when she had overused her Dragon Slayer magic in that battle against that Dragon Hunter.

Acnologia.

That was the name he was given, that strange man who hunted Dragons, thought for what reason, Aesyr couldn't even phantom as to why he would want to do something like that. The only reminder she had of him was the scar she now bears, marring her dark skin.

_But it doesn't seem that I'll be able to find a place after all, _she thought.

When she had started her journey to Atlasia, Aesyr had been certain that she would find something to keep her here, somewhere where she wouldn't be seen as a monster as most in Fiore no see the Dragon Slayers after what had happened with both Acnologia and the other Dragon Slayers losing their mind from the power that was gifted to them…

Thought she wonders if it was only time before the same thing happened to her.

The sound of someone knocking at her door drew her attention from her thoughts, glancing toward it.

"Enter."

The door opened and Helen was there, holding a tray.

"I have made breakfast," she said.

Aesyr smiled lightly at the woman as she entered placing the tray upon the table at the end of the room.

"Thank you for allowing me to stay here," she said.

Helen waved her apology away.

"Hey it's no big," she said, "it's not like we didn't have any empty rooms. We weren't going to let you camp out in the woods."

Aesyr nodded.

"Still thank you."

Helen smiled softly. Aesyr made her way toward the food and started placing things upon her plates.

"Do you have any idea of what you're going to do now?" Helen asked.

Aesyr paused for a moment.

"Not really sure," she said, "I…I had hoped to come here with Elassan and maybe find someplace where I can belong. I can't go back to Fiore with how the situation is there. I had hoped that maybe with Elassan I'd be able to have a home here…"

She shook her head.

"Maybe I should have gone with Ace…," she murmured mostly to herself.

She knew that Ace had gone North but as to where, she had no idea now. Their last conversation hadn't been something that was pleasant to think about.

"Atlasia isn't exactly what you were expecting huh?" Helen said.

She shook her head.

"No."

Helen had a light frown upon her features.

"I sometimes think about leaving it all behind to," she said, drawing Aesyr's gaze, "I mean, the Dragon Knights are no more, safe for Shinji. Our numbers have been dwindling down for years and for everyone it was just like fighting a battle that we have already lost."

Aesyr frowned lightly.

"Then why did you stay?" she asked.

Helen looked at her.

"Because it's home," she said, "I have lived in it all my life, heard all of the stories and legends that exists about it. I can't just abandon it just because things are hard right now. I just have to believe all hope isn't gone forever…"

A sad smile was upon the woman's lips.

"I thought Elassan's return would have been that spark we needed," she said, "But…he is dead and that is all the more reason we shouldn't give up…"

The sound of someone arriving drew both of the women's attention. It was Ellis and the man had urgent look upon his face.

"Helen, we need your help down in the hall," he said, "There is a rider from Hyades village that arrived late last night."

"Hyades Village?" Helen said shocked standing up.

Aesyr looked at them in confusion, but she recognizes the dread easily enough on Ellis's face.

"Something had happened," he said, "And it's not good."

Helen let out a swore before quickly leaving the room following after him. Aesyr watched them go for a moment before standing up as well.

* * *

Shinji was looking at the man from Hyades with concern. He was dressed in light armor probably one of the soldiers that used to guard the village from bandits and whatnots and the man had been dead tired when he was brought in last night. He had collapsed and had only regained consciousness some minutes ago and he had send Ellis to go find Helen and bring her here.

The group returned and Shinji was surprised to see the outsider girl, Aesyr among them.

"Alright," he said, "Tell us exactly what had happened."

"Bartholomew send me," the man said looking up at them, "He told me to ride as hard as a could to get a message to you Shinji the Dragon Knight. The Village of Hyades was attacked by Minotaur's men."

Shinji feel his eyes widen in shock.

"No…?" he said shocked.

Helen gasped, placing a hand upon her lips and even Ellis was shocked.

"What do you mean _attacked_?" he asked.

"I saw the fires burning the homes as I left," the man said, "I was lucky to even managed to get away."

A thousand thought ran through Shinji's mind from where he sat, too shocked to move. Hyades Village was not even remotely close to Dragmount. A quiet village to be sure, but nothing within it should have drawn Minotaur's attention at all.

_Unless he somehow finds out about her…_

"Was Bartholomew alone when he sends you off?" he asked.

The man nodded.

"What about his niece?" he asked.

The man was confused about the question but he shook his head.

"No, I don't remember seeing the girl at all," he said, "He could have sent her off somewhere to hide during the attack."

_No…Bartholomew wouldn't have sent you if he had believed that he could handle it by himself. If Minotaur had attacked the Village, then that would mean that one of his Commanders have been present…and if Minotaur had sent one of his top men there…_

Shinji turned his gaze toward Ellis.

"Ellis, prepare the chariot," he said, "We're going to Hyades Village…all of us. If Bartholomew had sent for me, then the situation must have been more serious than we think."

Ellis looked at him surprised but he nodded, setting off to work on the order he was given.

"I'll get my medical equipment then," Helen said, "If the town was attacked, they're going to need a healer."

Shinji smiled at her gratefully, and the soldier looked at them.

"If you're heading back, then I'm coming along as well," he said, "Hyades is my home, I can't abandon it no matter what."

Shinji looked at the man for a few moments but he nodded as the man left the room as well following the direction that Ellis had gone. Shinji let out a sigh running a hand through his hair.

"What's in that village that has you so worried?"

He glanced toward Aesyr. The woman's eyes were piercing and he felt like she could see right through him with just a look. He let out a small sigh.

"It's not a what," he said, "It's a who?"

She blinked.

"A who?"

The young man nodded.

"If you're asking should that mean that you're coming along?" he asked.

Aesyr paused for a moment, before glancing toward him.

"If Minotaur had attacked that village," she said, "Then there going to be more like that Karmer guy that attacked us back at the Port city isn't it?"

Shinji crossed his arms.

"They are only two others that are that strong," he said, "Saul and Azil. I have never faced them in combat myself but if they are on the same level as Karmer, that should give you an idea on how strong they are."

Aesyr stayed silent for a moment.

"Then I'll come as well," she said.

Shinji nodded. He was inwardly glad she decided to come along given how powerful she was in her battle against Karmer. If she was with them, then she would definitely give them an edge in the battle that they were surely going to get drawn.

_Wait for me Yael…I'm coming._

* * *

**The news reach our heroes and Shinji face his new goal...**

**Next Time: **The Dragon Knight's Secret Mission

**Jacques0 out.**

**R&R**


	8. The Dragon Knight's Secret Mission

**Hey guys, here is the next update of this fanfic. Hope you have enjoyed the read so far.**

**Anyway, enjoy the read.**

**Chapter Cover: **Shinji holding his sword at the ready with a determinate look upon his face.

Chapter Eight

The Dragon knight's Secret Mission

"Don't worry about me, I'm…HULP…fine."

"You don't look fine,"

Shinji couldn't help but let out an exasperated sigh at the situation at the moment. The young man glanced back at people that were in the carriage with him. Aesyr was seating beside Helen looking as pale as milk which was quite a feat considering how dark her skin was. The young woman had been completely out of it ever since they left the base and heading toward Hyades. He could hardly believe that it was the same assured looking young woman that had defeated Karmer all by herself.

_If anyone looks at her now, they'll never think she was that strong._

"This is one of the worst cases of motion sickness I have seen," Ellis said, "You sure you're going to be okay?"

The woman nodded.

"I'll be fine…ULP…," she said, "I endured one month on a ship…I can endure this."

"Why don't you put your head upon my lap then?" Helen said, "maybe it will give you some relief."

Aesyr denied it.

"It's okay," she said, giving her a shaky thumbs up.

Suddenly the carriage took a nasty bump causing her to lower her head into her hands, as if trying to stop herself from throwing up.

"In any case…how much longer…?" she asked.

"It's just over that ridge," the soldier that was with them who identified himself as Lee answered, "We've made good progress. It's not even midday yet."

He was right, Shinji noticed as he looked at the road in front of him. He hadn't been there in a while but even he still remembers the path that will lead straight into the village. Shinji frowned to himself since he was still very young when he had last seen the area and couldn't help but feel worried about the entire situation and about Yael.

_I hope that I am wrong in my theory, _he thought.

They turned over the ridge and Hyades Village expended in front of them and Shinji couldn't help but gasp in horror at what he was seeing. Charred remains of broken homes were all that he could see, and even in the distance he couldn't see much people wondering around as he remembered. He had seen the aftermath of Minotaur's rampage these past five years ever since Dragmount fell to him, and to think that he would be seen Hyades in such a state left him with ice in his veins.

"There…There is not much left," Lee said his voice subdued, "My home…,"

The ride into the village was dead silent and it came to a stop near the entrance. Shinji jumped down, wincing lightly at the wounds he still had but it passed enough. The others stepped off the carriage, Ellis being the first, followed by Aesyr who looked to be still queasy but was well enough and Helen was helping her.

"C'mon," Shinji said.

The group walked into the destroyed village together, and Shinji's eyes were looking at the destruction and couldn't help but feel anger boiling within him. this was the kind of tragedy that dragon knight like himself were supposed to prevent from happening but ever since Dragmount's fall, they were just him as the last dragon knight.

"Anyone," Lee yelled out, "Is anyone here?"

The silence was all that answered them.

"Could…could they have left the village behind?" Ellis asked, glancing around.

Shinji knew that could have been a possibility and there is also the possibility that everyone was…

"Someone's coming," Aesyr suddenly said, pointing forward, "That direction."

Shinji glanced at her in surprise for a moment but then, the sound of footsteps reached his ears. He turned his attention forward, his hand already gone for his sword as he faced forward and yet he never drew it for he knew the person that was walking toward them.

It was an older man, with long white hair falling upon his shoulders. The man was dressed in pants with bandages all over his body and the look on his face was stern as he observed them for a few moments until his gaze fell upon Shinji.

"You took your time getting here," he said.

"Bartholomew," Shinji said walking forward, "I thought the worse had happened."

"They didn't kill me yet," the man, Bartholomew said with a frown, "C'mon follow me."

The group followed him out of the village and into the forest where they found many of the people of the villages that were still alive. Helen had wasted no time going on to help the wounded however she can with her healing magic and Lee had left them behind as well to get some attention toward the soldiers who survived the attack.

The rest were with Bartholomew as the old man told them the full story of what had occurred the night the village was attacked.

"They came out of nowhere," he said, "Barely had time to put up a defense but even then, their numbers overwhelmed the soldiers that we had. To make matters worse, they had two of their top members present as well leading the attack…we didn't stand a chance."

"Yael?" Shinji asked.

The man shook his head.

"Her body wasn't found in the village, nor in the area surrounding it," he said, "There is a good chance she was taken…"

"That's not a good chance," Shinji interrupted, "That is a very real possibility. I never thought Minotaur was after her of all people."

Ellis frowned.

"Just what is going on with the two of you?" he asked, "You are acting as if it's the end of the world that some random villager was kidnapped."

Bartholomew sighed.

"You're going to have to tell them Shinji," he said, "That was the mission your father had entrusted you with after all."

Shinji stayed silent for a moment.

"Yael…is not a simple villager," he said looking up at both Ellis and Aesyr, "She is the last living descendant of the Salvatore Family."

Ellis's eyes went wide with shock at the news but Aesyr looked confused.

"The Salvatore Family?" she repeated.

Shinji looked at her.

"The Salvatore Family was the current royal family in Atlasia," he told her, "It was said that they had many secrets that were buried with their fall and that many people will do anything to get their hands upon some of those secrets. Bartholomew here was a member of the Crescent Knights, the protectors of the Royal family and Emma Salvatore confident."

Ellis looked at the man shocked.

"You were part of that infamous Order?" he said shocked, "I thought they were all killed when the Salvatore fell."

Bartholomew nodded.

"You are right in thinking most of my Order are gone," he said, with a soft sigh, "But my duty was to safeguard the princess and her unborn child at the time…and that what was I focused on."

Aesyr frowned lightly.

"What caused them to fall?" she asked, "Was it a war?"

The man shook his head.

"No one knows," he said, "Even I don't know…but what I do remember from that night all those years ago…is the blood moon that shone in the evening sky. It shone bright red, brighter than any moon I've ever seen, a perfect blood red circle in a sky filled with stars."

"A blood moon?" Aesyr said.

"I had taken Emma to Dragmount were the knights welcomed us," Bartholomew continued, "Which was were Yael was born…but staying there would only draw unwanted attention so we all came here to Hyades. It was out of the way, and isolated…not a place that many would want to look for hiding royalties."

Ellis suddenly looked at Shinji.

"When Minotaur attacked Dragmount…?"

Shinji nodded.

"There is a chance he came looking for the Princess five years ago," he said, "I had my suspicions as well but no proof. It's one of the reasons why I am always keeping my eyes out for Minotaur's movement and heard through a tip that he was going to be in the Port…but I guess it was just Karmer."

"If this Yael girl was born after the fall of the Salvatore family," Aesyr said frowning confusedly, "How would she know about any of the secrets of her family? Did her mother taught them to her or something?"

"One drop of her blood will be enough to reveal many secrets," Bartholomew spoke out looking at the girl, "Her blood is considered sacred in Atlasia. Some would say that the bloodline of the Salvatore family is descended from the Gods themselves. Magic ran deep within that family ever since they were blessed by the Dragon God."

A light frown appeared upon Aesyr's features as she was observing them but she didn't say anything.

"If she was taken…then there is only one place that Minotaur would have taken her," Shinji said.

"Labyrinth," Bartholomew said, "I had the same thought as well…but no one had ever attacked that place and survive."

Shinji stared up at him, anger rising through him.

"I made her a promise," he said, standing up, "I promised her that I would always be there to protect her and when she needed me the most I wasn't there…"

"Getting yourself killed isn't going to help anyone," Bartholomew said, "You know you alone can't do anything against them at the moment…and none of us can match their Generals in strength and not telling the numbers of followers that he has. Minotaur is too powerful for you to take on."

The young man let out a grit of teeth as he tightened his hands into fist. He knew that Bartholomew speak the truth. But he didn't want to accept it. The longer that Yael was in the hands of those people…

_Yael…_, he thought, the image of the young woman appearing within his mind.

* * *

Night had fallen around them, and Aesyr had been given a tent all to herself so that she could sleep but the young woman wasn't going to fall asleep yet. With everything she had learned today, how could she fall asleep knowing the way things are right now? She had simply gone off with everything that had happened but she knew that Shinji wasn't going to wait to go rescue that Yael girl, whoever she was.

So, she had simply waited and bind her time waiting for when Shinji would be trying to sneak out of the village to go after her himself. The young woman waited till the sun was down and when everyone had gone to sleep before dressing herself and stepping out into the calm area.

A fire was still burning low somewhere in the camp and she can see few people still milling about but with Shinji's scent in mind, the young woman followed it and just like she had thought, the young man was right there by the ridden creatures as he was saddling one by himself.

"I knew it," she said.

Her sudden voice caused him to jump a foot in the air, probably not having expecting her to sneak up on him. The young man instantly turned toward her, his eyes wide but then when he realized it was her, he let out a small sigh.

"What is the big idea sneaking up on me like that?" he asked, "You almost gave me an heart attack."

"Your way too young to be able to die from that," Aesyr answered him crossing her arms.

Shinji shook his head and turned his gaze toward the mount he was working on.

"Shouldn't you be asleep?" he asked.

Aesyr didn't say respond to him but only asked him another question.

"You are going to that Labyrinth place, aren't you?"

Shinji stilled in his movements.

"I have no choice," he said, without even turning around, "The longer she is in Minotaur's hand, the closer that bastard get to the secrets of the Salvatore Family. As a Dragon knight, it is my duty to fight and stop that from happening."

"That may be true," Aesyr said uncrossing her arms, and walking toward him, "But that's not the face you made when the old man told you not to go."

Shinji turned to face her, a curious expression upon his face.

"I was watching you back then when you were talking," she said, "Ellis may not have picked up on it, but you had the face of someone who had already made a decision the moment you heard that she was taken."

Shinji looked away for a moment.

"We were just kids when we first met, Yael and I," he said, "She was never much of a princess…no matter what blood flows in her veins. She was just a young girl that I knew from my childhood and a good friend. Which is why I am not going to just stay here when she needs my help."

Aesyr narrowed her gaze.

"From what I've heard, that Minotaur guy has a lot of men with him," she said, "And possibly two people that were as strong as that afro guy we've faced back at the Port and you still want to go in alone? What would be your plan exactly to get her out of there by yourself?"

Shinji tightened his hands into fists.

"I'll figure it out when I get there," he said turning away from her, climbing upon the creature.

Aesyr let out a sigh.

_Men and their stubborn pride, _she thought, shaking her head.

"You know you could have just asked me for help, right?"

Shinji looked down at her surprise upon his face.

"You…You'd want to help?" he asked shocked.

Aesyr gave him a look.

"Do you really think you can do this without help?" she asked.

Shinji stayed silent for a moment.

"I appreciate it," he said, before extending his hand, "Get on…we'll get there quick on the Leopard."

Aesyr looked at him for a few moments.

"….Can we walk?"

"_It will take too long."_

* * *

**Hope you guys have enjoyed this update. **

**Next Time: **Labyrinth

**Jacques0 out.**

**R&R**


	9. Labyrinth

**Hey guys, here is the next update of this fanfic. Hope you enjoy the read.**

**Chapter Cover: **Minotaur seating upon a throne with a grin upon his lips.

Chapter Nine

Labyrinth

The two traveled through the night with Shinji guiding their stead and Aesyr hanging on behind him. The young woman was feeling the effect of transportation again as her stomach was feeling as squirmy whenever she was riding on something like transportation. She doesn't really understand when this has, if she was honest with herself.

During the entire war against the Dragons, she rode on vehicles and even flew with Elassan whenever they were deployed to fight, and not once she had ever felt like such. It was during her boat ride to Atlasia that her motion sickness had started to show itself. She dealt with it as best as she could, thought it always happens whenever she was riding upon something.

"Hey you okay back there?" Shinji asked as she groaned loudly.

"I…I'm fine…," she answered, "How long it will take to get…where we going?"

"We're already almost there," Shinji answered her.

Aesyr was surprised.

"I'm shocked," she said, "H…How did you know…?"

"It's not like Minotaur try to hide where he set up shop," the young man said, "He knows that there is no one in this part of Atlasia that is stronger than he is. Of course, in the past, they were some who tried to attack the place…it didn't end well for them."

Aesyr feel her stomach swirl again and she pressed her forehead against his back as if to steady herself. She felt the young man glance back toward her.

"Don't worry," he said, "Just hang on there…we just need to get there a little further."

"I just wish I knew why I am suddenly…like this," Aesyr mumbled to herself.

"Huh? You mean you weren't always like this?"

Aesyr shook her head.

"No…of course not," she said, "I used to travel all the time back in Dragnov…at least, before the Dragon wars…it was only recently this motion sickness is starting make itself known."

Shinji let out a small hum at that.

"That's weird," he said.

"You tell me," Aesyr mumbled.

_It's strange that I managed to get something like that, _she thought to herself, _Well, nothing I can do about it now…I just have to power through it…_

Then, Shinji pulled their ride to a stop.

"We'll stop here," he said.

Now that they were no longer moving, Aesyr can feel motion sickness dissipating away. The young woman glanced around herself for a few moments taking in the area they were in. it was a forest, and the moonlight shone down from in between the tree branches that towered above them. Shinji descended from where he was seating, pulling on the animal's reign.

"Why are we stopping here?" she asked, jumping down.

"We have to keep our presence hidden," the young man told her, "However, we only have to walk for a short while before we reach where we need to go."

Aesyr sniffed the air lightly around her taking in the scent. With her Dragon like nose, the numerous scents of the forest were familiar since she had trained in a place like this when she was with Elassan and learning Dragon Slaying magic. However, there was the scent of humans close by something that drew her attention as she turned her gaze at the direction it was coming from.

"We're going that way, right?" she asked pointing.

Shinji nodded.

"Yes, we are," he said, "We need to find exactly what we'll be up against."

The two of them set off together, with Shinji leading and Aesyr following after him. the young woman had both of her hand behind her back as she walked with him, a light frown upon her features.

"What exactly was your plan if you were going to come here alone?" she asked.

Shinji let out a small hum.

"I didn't have one yet," he said, "However, I have been thinking on our way here. If we can disguise ourselves as one of their foot soldiers, maybe we can get access to the place and find Yael before anyone could realize we were there."

Aesyr let out a snort.

"You do realize that it's not going to be that easy right?" she told him, "If that Minotaur guy had been searching for that girl, I doubt he will let her be far from him."

Shinji glanced at her.

"If he isn't going to be far from her," he said, "Then you think we'll have to fight against him to get her out of there?"

Aesyr nodded.

"There is a good chance of that happening," she said.

The two reached an open part of the wood, giving way toward a valley. There was a river running through it and it led all the way down toward what looked like to be a castle that was slapped on the side of the cliffs. It was big, even in the distance it was in meaning that the real thing was probably enormous.

"…I don't see why it looks like a Labyrinth?" Aesyr said tilting her head.

"It's the caverns that were found in the cliff," Shinji told her, "They form a large underground network…thought no one knew just what exactly made them…hence they call them the Labyrinth Caverns and the people just started calling this place Labyrinth."

"I see," Aesyr said, "Then I'm guessing Minotaur didn't build the castle then."

"of course not," Shinji said shaking his head, "It had been there long before he was even born…probably in this country Old days. He just moved in and took over the place for himself…. now, no one come here anymore and it was renamed Minotaur's Labyrinth."

The young man shook his head.

"C'mon, let's go," he said, "We need to get closer and find someone to get inside the area."

* * *

**Meanwhile**

Minotaur was standing there looking down at the man in front of him. Karmer had been absent these past few days and had even missed the plan of attack for Hyades Village. While he had never really worried about anything else but now, the man had returned and this time, he was staring at him with a frown, not registering what he was saying.

"You…_you were defeated_?" he repeated.

Karmer looked afraid of speaking as he should be. He was one of his Commander damn it and there was no way he would have lost to anyone here in this side of Atlasia. He damn made sure of it when he took them in and made them his Commanders. They weren't meant to be defeated.

"Karmer…do you know why my name is feared in these lands?" he asked, glaring down at the man in front of him.

"But sir…I have a good excuse…," he blabbed.

"It is because I am never defeated in battle," Minotaur yelled out, "Whenever the pathetic people hear my name, they tremble in fear because my reputation had never been tarnished by something as pathetic as defeat…and my Commanders should have the same reputation."

Magic was swirling around the man as his anger continued to grow and Karmer was sweating bullets as the two glowing eyes of Minotaur stared straight into his soul.

_I…I'm going to be killed…_

"And now…you come here…_To tell me that you have been defeated by some no name wizard_," Minotaur shouted cracking the ground with the magic power that was growing around him.

"It was a foreigner," Karmer screamed out, "She...?"

Minotaur eyes grew even colder.

"_SHE?"_

Seeing the man anger growing even stronger, Karmer blurted out the only thing he knew would keep him alive, throwing his arms over his head to keep protect himself.

"_She said she fought against Dragon and had some weird scales upon her body."_

The magic around Minotaur suddenly disappeared. Karmer had both of his arms over his head waiting for the blow that will end his life but it never came. When he removed his hand, he found Minotaur staring down at him with surprise upon his features. It wasn't often that the man looked surprised by something.

"Dragon…you say?" he said.

Karmer nodded.

"Yes," he said, "And her magic was weird too. It was strong enough to even break my barriers and there is no magic apart from yours that was able to accomplish that."

Minotaur had a light frown upon his face as he was thinking about something.

"I heard the rumors," he said, "But I never imagined…"

Karmer blinked in confusion.

"Sir?"

Minotaur started to laugh.

"Well this is starting to get interesting," he said, "To think that one of _them _will be here in Atlasia. Tell me, where exactly did you meet with this woman?"

Karmer revealed everything to him and as he was speaking, Minotaur could feel his grin growing even larger at the words that were coming to him.

"Good," he said, "Send words to our soldiers to remain vigilant and to be on watch for intruders."

"Intruders?" Karmer said shocked, "But that's impossible…no one would dare attack here."

Minotaur laughed.

"Maybe," he said, "But give them enough motivation, and people are willing to do anything."

* * *

Shinji knew something was wrong.

The young man and his companion where hiding behind a wall as they were looking at the numerous soldiers that were around them. They were all wearing similar armors with the symbol of the Minotaur upon their outfit to tell anyone who they worked for.

"They seem to have more people than I expected," Shinji said softly, "Trying it this way it's no good."

Aesyr let out a small hum.

"They seem to be worked up about something," she said, "From what I can hear, they are tightening their security."

Shinji stared at her in shock.

"How do you even know that?" he asked.

"I have really good hearing," she said, "But I don't think they know we are here yet."

Shinji nodded.

"Good, let's keep it that way," he said, "It's a good thing we came here at night. The darkness will make a good cover for when we're sneaking inside this place."

Aesyr nodded at him and the two sneaked through an empty hallway of the Labyrinth castle. It was a pretty normal castle with large hallway. They were not many people patrolling this side of the castle and since they have no idea where they're going, Shinji had simply decided to go upward after all, if Minotaur really was in this place then he would be on the top of it.

"If Yael is really in this place," Shinji said as they rushed up the stairs, "Then it would be good to say that she will be placed at the top, near where Minotaur is."

"Right," Aesyr told him, "Wait stop…?"

Her warning fell on deaf ears as Shinji threw open the door and they all found themselves in a large room filled with soldiers. The group all turned around toward them in surprise at how they entered the room and Shinji find himself stopping as he stared back.

"…they are people on the other side of that door," Aesyr finished lamely.

Shinji let out a curse.

_Shit, _he thought.

"_Intruders_," one of the soldiers yelled out aiming a spear at their direction.

Suddenly Aesyr launched forward aiming straight toward the group of soldiers.

"Wait…,"

"**Silver Dragon, Explosive Wings," **she yelled out.

The blast of magic from both of her hands blew everyone away from her as she landed in a crouch like position with many of the soldiers flying away from her, sliver glowing all around her body. Shinji stared at her for a few moments, shocked at how quickly she moved and at how many of them she just took down with just a single attack.

"I don't think we have time for a new plan," she said straightening herself up, "We need to take care of these guys quickly before they raise the alarm."

Shinji nodded realizing that she was right. They can't let their presence be know so quickly and if the enemy knows that they are here then it won't be long before Minotaur himself come after them…

_Damn it all…just wait a little longer Yael…_

He drew his sword, which glowed with magic power as he came to stand beside Aesyr.

"Let's take them down," he said, charging.

Aesyr let out a small smirk before charging as well.

The duo launched themselves into the fray as they tore through the group of enemies that were around them. Shinji was expertly cutting down any one that was around him with his magic sword. On the other side of the room, Aesyr was kicking and punching anyone that was near her, moving like a tornado with both of her hands glowing with magic power.

Shinji stepped back and then ended up back to back with the silver haired girl.

"These guys are not as challenging as I was expecting," she said.

"They're just fodders," Shinji said, "Not a real challenge unlike the Commanders."

Aesyr raised both of her hands.

"Then let's take them all down and get moving."

Shinji's sword glowed yet again.

"**Sword Magic, Sword Might," **he yelled tearing through another group with ease.

"**Silver Dragon, Flaming Spinning Claws," **Aesyr yelled, destroying another large group of enemies.

Soon after, it was only the two of them standing in the large room filled with unconscious soldiers all around them. Shinji glanced around himself for a few moments before placing his sword back into his sheath.

"Let's go," he said, "Someone will have probably heard all of that."

Aesyr nodded at him.

The two ran together leaving the room behind as they rushed up the stairs once more. It spun in a circular motion as they climbed, giving way toward a corridor that stretched on their right. Both Shinji and Aesyr rushed forward once more until the girl suddenly placed a hand in front of him to stop him from going any further.

"What's up?" he asked.

"We're not alone," she said.

The sound of footsteps reached Shinji's ears as he suddenly glanced forward finding a man walking toward them, dressed in a white coat. He had blue hair and both of his hands were behind his back as he approached them and recognition surged through Shinji.

"I was wondering what was causing all that racket downstairs," the man spoke out, "I never expected someone would be so foolish to attack us directly anymore."

He then stared up toward the duo in front of him.

"But…it would seem that only you would be that bold, Dragon Knight Shinji."

"Saul," Shinji said.

* * *

**The rescue plan goes awry...face to face with a powerful enemy...**

**Next Time:** The Commanders of Minotaur

**Jacques0 out.**

**R&R**


	10. The Commanders of Minotaur

**Hey guys, here is the next update of this fanfiction. Hope you have been enjoying the read so far.**

**Anyway, enjoy this one.**

**Chapter Cover: **Aesyr lying upon her back with both hands behind her head, as Shinji was seating beside her with his sword in between them.

Chapter Ten

The Commanders of Minotaur

The two stared at the man across them and Shinji had his hand on his blade as he stood there, gritting his teeth. He wasn't planning on running into one of the Commanders so early in the attack. The foot soldiers were one thing but for one of the Commanders themselves to show up, it was starting to make things really hard really quickly.

"Shinji, who is this guy?" Aesyr asked.

"He is another of the Commanders," the young man answered his hand on his blade, "Saul Marz."

The man, Saul, had a light smile upon his lips as he stared at them.

"Dragon Knight Shinji," he said, "You have been a thorn in Minotaur's side for quite some time now. How fortunate it is for us that you will come here in our home. Maybe then the Dragon Knights will fully be extinct with your defeat."

Shinji glared at him.

"Where is she Saul?" he growled.

The Commander tilted his head lightly almost like he didn't understand what he was talking about, but then, a light appeared within his gaze.

"Oh…you mean the girl from Hyades Village?" he asked, "Well, I am in not liberty to say, and all that you need to know is that she is safe, at least for the moment."

Aesyr narrowed her eyes lightly.

"That girl is there," she said simply.

Shinji glanced at Aesyr in shock at what she said.

"You're certain?" he asked her.

The silver haired girl gave a nod.

"I have been keeping my nose open for any familiar scents that I could pick up," she said, "Since Yael is from the village, I thought she'd have similar scent to the people there and I was right. I can pick up a familiar scent that I smelled back in the village…probably from her clothing."

Shinji could feel something like relief rising through him.

_So she is here, _he thought.

"I'll handle this guy," Aesyr told him stepping forward, "You go and find that girl and then get out here."

Shinji looked at the dark-skinned girl. Aesyr had an unusually serious expression upon her face as she was focused ahead. He knew she was strong given that she was able to defeat Karmer all by herself and overpower the Commander back then. There was this power around Aesyr that was waking up as the silver glow danced around her body like flames.

He has never seen fire magic like this before.

"Then I'll leave it to you," he said.

Saul narrowed his eyes.

"Do you really think I'll let any of you pass me," he said removing his hand from behind his back, "None of you will make it past me."

"We'll see about that," Shinji said as he charged forward.

As he moved, he saw Saul getting ready to fight against him but then, a shadow passed in front of him as his vision was filled with a tattered cloak that Aesyr usually wear upon her form and then the young woman launched a punch forward meeting Saul head on, giving him all the time to slip past the two fighting wizards and down the hallway.

_Be careful Aesyr, this guy…he is not like Karmer at all…he is far more dangerous…_

* * *

Aesyr had her punch slamming into the young man's hand who pared the attack with the back of his palm. He stared up at her as the magic swirled around both of them, thought he had a light frown upon his face as he stared at her.

"You used yourself as a bait so that your friend might have a chance at passing me," he said, "Either you're really that naïve to think the two of you can win or are you just that confident in your power."

He pushed her off and Aesyr jumped back landing on the ground in a light crouch, but then suddenly dashed forward aiming at her opponent with a kick. The man, Saul, then raised his hand his palm facing forward as he unleashed a blast of magic right into her causing her to yell out in pain as she was blown backward from the attack and rolling upon the ground.

Aesyr let out a groan of pain as she shook her head lightly to get rid of the dizziness that had befallen her. She pulled herself back upon her feet as Saul was now approaching forward toward her.

"I'll leave him to Azil then," he said, "You…I don't know who you are but something tell me you're going to be a dangerous adversary in the future if we allow you to leave here."

Aesyr stared at him for a few moments before she detached the tattered cloak she was wearing and throwing it backward into the ground. She stayed in the sleeveless shirt she has on and the shorts that she wore with the combat boots. Aesyr cracked her knuckles as she stared at him.

"Bring it on," she said narrowing her eyes at him.

Saul let out a small smirk.

Aesyr's hand glowed with magic as she launched herself forward once more. She launched a fist forward aiming straight for Saul who instantly moved to parry the attack causing her to smile lightly as her fist made contact with the back of his hand once more.

"**Silver Dragon, Explosive Fist," **she said.

She felt the magic react around her however, Saul didn't even budge from where he stood. Aesyr can feel her eyes widen lightly at what was happening in front of her. The man narrowed his eyes lightly at her.

"Was that suppose to do something?" he asked.

_My attack…failed? _She thought shocked.

Saul launched his palm forward once more causing a massive blast of magic to slam into Aesyr's side, the girl yelling out in pain as she was blown to the side by the attack that was launched at her. She rolled upon the ground once more as she fell, completely blindsided by the attack Saul had sent at her.

Saul spun his hand again.

"If that's all you can do then you are weak," he said.

Aesyr let out a growl as she glared at him.

_He made my attack disappear somehow…, _she thought, _Just what is his secret?_

The young woman stood up again facing her enemy.

"That took me by surprise," she said, "I guess you Commanders aren't just for show after all."

_The Karmer guy was pretty strong too, given his Barrier-type magic, _she thought.

Aesyr took her stance once more.

_I'm going to have to keep my eyes open within this battle and figure out his technique._

* * *

**With Shinji**

The young man had left the floor which Aesyr was facing the Commander, Saul all by herself. He wasn't too worried about her after all, he had seen her take down one of them by herself. Now, he just has to focus on what he needed to do so that he could save Yael from whatever Minotaur had planned to do with her.

He reached another hallway coming to a stop, huffing lightly as he placed a hand toward where his wound was, the one he had gotten from fighting against Karmer. Wincing lightly, the young man took a deep breath to calm himself down before refocusing his attention away from it.

_It isn't hurting as bad as before, _he thought, _As expected of Helen. She really is a great healer._

The young man straightened himself up again before rushing down the hallway.

_Aesyr said that she was in the area nearby…let's hope I'll be able to find her before Minotaur can…_

Shinji suddenly drew his sword as his sense picked up on a presence nearby. The young man instantly stopped running turning his attention around himself as he held his blade at the ready.

"Well….well, well," a voice spoke out, "What do we have here?"

_This voice…_Shinji thought glancing around himself, _Where is it coming from?_

"I must admit," the voice continued seemingly coming around everywhere at once, "I never expected it to be you Dragon Knight Shinji. I always thought that you were smarter than that, but then again, you people were sworn to the Royal family, weren't you? Sworn to give up your lives to save the royal bloodline…like it was an honorable thing to do?"

Shinji grit his teeth.

"What the hell do you know?" he asked, "What do you know about honor? All you are is someone that prey upon the weak and defenseless calling yourself strong because of it?"

"I think the facts speaks for itself don't you think?" the voice answered, "After all, you Dragon Knights are extinct, the guardians of the Kingdom of Atlasia. Wasn't that the name your kind was so proud to bear?"

Shinji glanced around himself.

"As long as I still exist," he said, "Their honor will never disappear. Dragon Knights are still the guardians of this Kingdom and I will defend it to my last breath….even if I am the last one."

Suddenly his vision was completely covered in darkness.

_What the hell…I can't see?_

"Then allow me to help you get there," the voice answered once more.

A fist slammed straight into Shinji's stomach, straight into the part of his wound causing him to yell out in pain at the attack. The pain surged and twisted as he fell down upon his knees. He can already feel blood leaking from where the wound was, as he placed a hand upon it.

"I saw you favor that side earlier," the voice spoke out, "It seems someone is a bad patient."

He slammed a kick into his side, causing it to throb painfully as Shinji let out gasp of pain, slamming his forehead into the ground so that it could stop him from screaming out. Shinji tightened his grip upon the handle of his blade.

"**Sword Magic, Sirius Light."**

The blast of magic blew out form the sword as it cleared the darkness form his eyes with the entire hallway filling up with the light magic that grew from his blade. Across him, he saw a man standing there with his hand raised as if to shield his eyes from the light that was coming from the sword.

_I see you, _Shinji thought.

"**Sword Magic, Pentagram Blades."**

He slashed through the man causing him to yell out as the attack got through him. Shinji was huffing lightly at the attack he just did, turning his attention toward his enemy noticing that he was still standing despite the powerful attack he just did against him.

"Eh…eh," he said turning toward him with wounds upon his body, "I must admit, you are quite clever. Using Light magic against my shadow magic."

Shinji get his sword at the ready.

"I have done quite a bit of research about the type of magic all of the Commanders use," he said, "While I may not have gained much, however, you are the one of the most famous Commanders of Minotaur because of the magic you use, Azil Bruzzer, the Shadow Wizard."

The man laughed.

"As I thought you really are a crafty one," he said, "Maybe this battle will actually be fun…unlike before…now, **SHADOW WORLD."**

The entire area Shinji was in was suddenly turning into completely blackness as the shadows that were around them was becoming thicker than the night itself. It was like it was pressing down on everything growing, stronger and stronger and they were aiming straight toward him. Shinji's sword glowed yet again as the Light magic from before shone around the sword as he yelled launching the attack forward once more as light and shadow clashed causing the hallway to shake with the amount of power that was being used at the moment with the young man gritting his teeth at how strong Azil was.

With a yell, he slashed right through the shadow which dissipated from in front of him but Azil was already gone causing him to blink in surprise and then a hit came from behind him sending him stumbling forward at the hit and then he turned toward it finding Azil there, half of his body almost look like it was one with the shadows as his hand launched blast of it straight at him, forcing him to dodge it backward.

"It's your bad luck you decide to come here at night," he said with large grin, "Here in the darkness, I am as powerful as one of the Fallen Gods. You are nothing but a pest I need to get rid off."

Shinji glared up at the enemy in front of him as he held on his blade.

"Then I will have to put you down before I get to go to Yael," he said.

* * *

**With Aesyr**

The girl jumped backward as she avoided a blast aiming straight toward her. She was staring to read the movement of her opponent and understanding how he used his magic. The area around them was staring to get destroyed as she narrowed her eyes at him with both of her arms raised on either side of her face.

"You last way longer than the last person I fought against," Saul spoke out with a light smirk upon his lips, "I must admit, you are a strong one."

Aesyr frowned lightly as her magic swirled around her hands and then she dashed forward once more. Saul was ready for her as the young man raised his palm once more at the ready as she came with a series of quick punches aiming straight for him but all of them were blocked and Aesyr can see that he was blocking all of her attacks with the back of his palms, and each time her fist made contact, she felt the magic weaken more and more until she jumped away once more avoiding a blast of attack that Saul had launched at her.

"Oh…," Saul said, "What's the matter? Are you running away?"

"I think I just figured out how you can block me so easily," she said, "You use some type of Palm magic didn't you?"

Saul blinked.

"Oh?"

"With the back of your hands you can negate magic energy," Aesyr said, "Which is why my exploding Fist didn't send you flying like it did that other guy."

Saul smiled lightly.

"You're quite perceptive girl," he said, "But even knowing what type of magic I use, it doesn't guarantee you victory in this battle."

She grinned lightly.

"Do you really think so?" she asked him.

Magic power swirled around her body as the silver scales started to appear around her arms in face. Saul's eyes widened lightly at what was happening in front of him. Aesyr tightened her hands into fist before she dashed straight at him and throwing a powerful punch right at Saul who had to use both of the back of his palms to block the powerful attack that came at him and even that wasn't enough for he was sending flying backward slamming straight into the wall of the room at the other end of where they were.

"**Silver Dragon, Hard Fist," **she said.

"_Try blocking that_."

* * *

**An flaming triumph to turn the tides...**

**Next Time: **The Name of the Blade

**Jacques0 out.**

**R&R**


	11. The True Name of the Blade

**Hey guys, here is the next update of this fanfic. Hope you have been enjoying the read so far.**

**Anyway, enjoy this new one.**

**Chapter Cover: **Shinji's back as he stood facing the front.

Chapter Eleven

The True Name of the Blade

Saul couldn't feel pain rising through his body as he was slammed into the far wall of the room. He was so shocked that someone had managed to overcome his Defensive form. The young man landed on the ground in a hip, pain shooting through his form. The young man glanced toward the enemy across him finding her standing across him with those strange scales upon her arms and face.

_What type of magic is this? I thought she was a Fire Wizard at first…but then this transformation…_

He stood up from where he had fallen, still feeling the stings of the attack coursing through him, however, he knew that he can't allow himself to fall here. He was one of the Commanders of Minotaur's after all, and they were the strongest in his forces.

_As if I would allow myself to fall to a no name wizard like her…_

"I must admit," he said, addressing the silver haired girl across him, "You are far stronger than I expected you to be. Someone like you couldn't have been in Atlasia for long, you must be a foreigner."

The girl blinked.

"How did you figure that out?" she asked, surprise in her tone.

Saul let out a small smirk.

"Because if you weren't, you would have never passed under Minotaur's radar," he said, as he was slowly taking off his gloves, "I don't usually chance my tactics when I am in battle since there is hardly anyone on this side of Atlasia that can break through my defense, you should consider yourself lucky."

The girl narrowed her eyes at him, but didn't say anything.

Saul finished removing his gloves, letting them drop upon the ground revealing his palms. Each of his hands had a white circle that covered his entire palm, looking like the skin had completely whitened in the area alone.

Saul then joined his hand together, forming an orb of light within his palms.

"You will face the full might of my Palm Paw Magic," he said.

Suddenly the orb grew in size as the girl's eyes widened in shock at the sight of it and then light completely filled the area completely as a massive explosion completely overcame the area, she was standing in causing the building to shake around them. Saul couldn't help the small smirk that grew upon his face as he was staring at the area in front of him.

_My palm Paw magic is quite destructive in his attacking mode, _he thought to himself, _able to blow anything and anyone away into smithereens…you were strong girl, but you are finished with that attack…_

The smoke dissipated away from him and Saul feel confusion as he noticed the shadow that was within the dust in front of him and when it was completely gone, it revealed the silver haired girl still standing in the same exact place she was before, thought the only difference was that she had placed her arms in front of her face to shield herself from the blast which had destroyed the ground around her and even created a hole behind her giving way out toward the darkened sky behind her.

The girl's eyes which were a dark color stared at him from behind her shielded arms which were covered in the same silver scales as before and with her clothes ripped in places. Saul feel his eyes widening in shock at the sight in front of him.

_S…She is unscathed…how…_

"You're going to have to do better than that to hurt me," the girl said lowering her arms.

Saul narrowed his eyes in anger at his attack having no effect upon the girl. The man launched himself forward both of his palms glowing against with his magic. The silver haired girl took her stance again as silver flames took presence around her again before she launched at him. The two met in the middle as he launched his palm forward releasing a large blast of power just as the girl herself launched her fist forward.

The two-magic clashed causing the ground around them to crack as the area they were in shook with the pressure of their released powers. The backlash of the attack caused the two fighters to step back but nether of the removed their look from each other's eyes.

Saul was instantly on the offensive again launching his other hand forward with a blast of magic aiming straight at the girl, but she went low dodging the attack, allowing it to fly over her. The girl came up with an uppercut straight into his jaws rattling him as he spun away from her rolling upon the ground.

Blood dripped from his lips but Saul ignored the pain, instantly pulling himself as he created more orbs of light from his palm.

"**Palm Magic, Scattered Orbs."**

All of the orbs flew forward as they all aimed for the silver haired girl encircling her, so she will have no chance of escaping the attack that will reach her however, she didn't even try to escape as both of her hands were engulfed in the same silver flames as before.

With a yell, she spun her arms around unleashing a wave of flames from all around her causing the orbs to explode when they came in contact with the fire from her and Saul was surprised yet again. He never expected her to be able to burn his own spell away with her fire magic.

_Her fire magic is stronger than I thought, _he thought.

Then the girl attacked, launching herself forward. She moved fast aiming straight toward him before she spun in the air, launching an arcing kick straight toward him.

"**Silver Dragon, Flaming Heel."**

The attack came down hard toward his face and Saul raised both of his hand in retaliation, both of his palm aimed forward to counter but the girl's attack smashed through his causing him to yell out in pain as he was forced upon his knees by the weight that was behind the attack.

_So…heavy…, _Saul thought.

He looked up toward the girl again seeing a fist heading straight for him, smashing straight into his face as silver flames filled his vision and then he was blasted backward flying through the air and crashing through a wall before rolling down unto his back, completely and utterly defeated.

Saul couldn't believe how powerful this girl was. Her magic was completely off the charts and he knew that she was more powerful than he was. He never thought that he'll meet someone that could face against the Commanders of Minotaur and be strong enough to defeat them in combat…

_This sensation…it's familiar…._

Saul knew that. He had felt this sensation before and strangely enough the memory his boss, Minotaur appeared within his mind as the man was staring down at him with a frown upon his features.

_So… that's what it was…it was just like back in that day…_

Saul looked up toward the girl finding her staring at him.

"You're just like him…," he said, "To think…one of the Commanders would be defeated by a no-name wizard…"

"You're the second one I've defeated," the girl answered him, "The first one was the Afro guy."

Saul feel surprise rushing through him.

_She defeated Karmer as well…she really is strong…_

* * *

**With Shinji**

Shinji was gritting his teeth as he held upon his blade, staring at his enemy across him. Azil had a grin upon his face as he stared with both of his hand engulfed in his shadow magic as he launched blast and blast after him and Shinji used his Sword's Light Magic to blow the attack away.

Shinji took a stance again as he launched forward but as he was aiming straight toward him, Azil suddenly sank into the ground almost like he disappeared into the ground itself. However, Shinji knew what had happened and knew that the man had transformed himself into a Shadow yet again. The Dragonknight turned his attention around him again as he held his sword at the ready waiting for the attack that will surely come for him.

"How do you think you're going to be able to leave this place Shinji?" Azil's voice echoed around him, "You are nothing against the Commanders of Minotaur. You are nothing against what we are, not even worth the dirt underneath our shoes."

Shinji couldn't help the snarl that escaped his lips at that.

"And if you're so powerful then why are you hiding in your shadows," he yelled out.

A dark chuckle escaped from the man's lips, and movement caught Shinji's eyes. The young man turned toward it, instantly attacking with his glowing blade but all he hit was nothing more than shadows which dispersed against the light magic of the blade and Shinji feel surprise running through him at the sight.

_Not here…but…_

Shadows grew from the ground around him and Azil's sprung forth with a punch aiming straight toward his stomach…straight into the wound that wasn't done healing. Pain shoot through the young man as he let out a gasp at the attack, and Azil let out a dark chuckle looking at him stumbling away as he clutched where the wound was.

"That's…dirty…," he growled glaring at him.

Azil's answer was to continue attack with a wave of shadows slamming straight into him sending the young man crashing back down into the far wall of the hallway.

"That's what is called battle Shinji," he grinned, "To take advantage of your opponent's weakness and turn the tide against them."

Shadows spun around his hands.

"**Shadow Bullets," **he said.

Numerous blast of shadows aimed straight toward Shinji who's eyes widened in shock at them but he couldn't dodge at all for they hall hammered into him as well as cracking through the wall around him making several marks appearing around him. Blood fell from the wound at his side as well as his lips as Shinji gasped in pain.

Then he tilted forward…to fall down in defeat…

_A young blond-haired girl smiled at him._

"_Shinji."_

He placed a foot forward, to stop himself from falling down.

"Oh…still standing?" Azil said, his shadows increasing, "I thought that would have done you in…"

Shinji gripped his sword.

"I swore to myself…that I will protect her…," he said, "And what kind of knight will I be…If I fall without protecting the princess?"

Azil let out a laugh.

"Protect the princess? Are you talking about that brat Minotaur has taken? Seems kind of backward considering we already have her in custody…you failed to protect her back in Hyades…what makes you think you can protect her now? You can barely stand in on your own two feet."

Shinji straightened himself up, blood falling from his lips but he didn't even mind it at all. The young man then, aimed his blade straight forward with both of his hand upon the handle.

"I've seen all your tricks," Azil said shadows spinning around his hands, "You can't defeat me Shinji."

"_Not all," _Shinji spoke out.

Then, Shinji ran a hand on the steel of the blade which was slowly started to glow even more as it was starting to transform into light itself.

"I was originally hoping to not have to use this against you," he said, "I wanted to save it for Minotaur but given how the situation is going, I am going to have to use it. You should feel honored Azil for you face something that few enemies have ever seen, the true form of this blade."

Azil tilted his head.

"It's just a magic sword," he said, "I don't see what's the big deal about it."

The sword in Shinji's hand glowed like light as he held the handle. It was like the steel of the sword itself had transformed into nothing but pure light and within that light was a mix of many different colors, all swirling together to form the blade.

"As a native to Atlasia, you might know it under a different name," Shinji spoke out, "However, you'll know just what type of sword I am holding when this battle is over."

Azil only laughed as if the very thought was absurd. With both of his hands encased in shadows, he launched another attack straight at Shinji who took a stance not even moving as the attack aimed straight toward him. The young man stood still looking at the attack coming at him, his sword of light at ready.

_I know where he is…and he won't be expecting it…I just need to do this right…_

Just as the attack was about to reach him, Shinji let out a yell and with a single slash, launched a wave of light straight forward. The wave was powerful enough to cut through the shadow attack causing to crash on either side of him however, he did hear the yell of pain when the wave of light hit Azil straight in his chest, causing blood to flow from the wound.

"W…What?" Azil said shocked, "I…_I'm hit_?"

* * *

The Shadow wizard had his hand upon the wound that was upon his form, his eyes shocked at what he was seeing. He stared up toward Shinji who had taken his stance again, his eyes staring at him. Azil knew that there was no way he could have hit him.

_My attack was completely destroyed and yet, he managed to reach him this far away…All I saw was a wave of light flashing by…I couldn't tell if it was magic or anything at all and yet, he still managed to reach me even this far away…_

Shinji raised his glowing sword once more and Azil, since he didn't know the true capability of this blade, instantly disappeared into the ground transforming himself into a shadow once more. With the dark hallway, it would be easier for him to hide and away from that sword's attack.

_I'm going to have to…_

His thoughts trailed off as he saw Shinji swing his sword once more, unleashing that wave of light once more and to his shock, the wave bend to the side and was now aiming straight for him. Azil quickly moved, his shadow form dancing across the wall but he didn't get far as the wave of light reached him and with an explosion of pain across his back, Azil was forced out of his shadow form, flying through the air and into the ground.

_What the hell…how did he managed to hit me…I was sure I was hidden…_

"I had forgotten to mention…," Shinji spoke as he walked toward him, "That once this blade had tasted your blood…it will never miss you again as long as you're within it's range."

Azil stared at him.

"Your sword…is that powerful?"

Shinji took a stance once more.

"Yes," he said, "After all, it is unbroken."

Azil's eyes widened lightly.

"No…," he said, realizing just what sword that Shinji had in his hand, "You don't mean…_that sword…"_

"**Sword Magic, Holy Light," **the Knight spoke out.

Light overtook Azil as he yelled out in pain from the attack unable to defend himself from the attack. He couldn't believe it…how could Shinji had such a weapon in his grasp…

Shinji let out a gasp of pain as he stared at Azil's form upon the ground, defeated and covered in bruises. He wasn't moving as well probably passed out from that last attack he had done. Shinji can feel the sword he had returning to its normal form as he glanced down at it and he already felt just how low on magic power he was.

It was one of the reasons he hated using its real form, as it always eats up too much of his magic power at each use. He knew the Commanders were strong but he never realized just how strong they were when they were in their natural elements.

_I hope Aesyr is doing better than me, _he thought, _Given how powerful she is…no time to think on this…I need to find Yael and get out of here before Minotaur realizes what's going on…thought, given the racket we've been making during our battle. I wouldn't be surprised if everyone know we are here now._

The young man turned away from the fallen Azil and quickly made his way out of the hallway he was in, continuing upward toward the top of the tower. Aesyr had told him that Yael was here and he was going to make sure he keeps his promise this time around. He wasn't around to save her back in Hyades village but he will make sure to protect her this time.

_Don't worry Yael…I will protect you this time._

* * *

**Victory in the battle...Shinji moves forth...**

**Next Time: **Dragon Slayer

**Jacques0 out.**

**R&R**


	12. Dragon Slayer

**Hey guys, here is the next update of this fanfic. Sorry for the long wait with no update...**

**Anyway, enjoy this new one.**

**Chapter Cover: **Aesyr standing by herself with the shadow of a dragon behind her.

Chapter Twelve

Dragon Slayer

Shinji continued to climb through the stairs as they continued to lead him on the upper levels of the Labyrinth. The old building has been renovated by Minotaur during his time here, Shinji observed as he took notice of the newer designs that were complimenting the old ones. It was to no surprise that he would put his own personal touch in this place after all, Minotaur had taken over this place ever since her rose into power years ago and from this place he had conquered the entire Dragmount lands.

Of course, the Dragon knights stood against him until their defeat five years ago, reducing their numbers drastically since then and now he was one of the last Dragon knights in existence thought…

Shinji thought back to his first meeting with Aesyr and the reason was that she had one of the coins as well and the though somehow made a smile rise to his face.

_Maybe…not the last one._

When this is over, he will have to initiate her into the Order if she decide to stay in Atlasia. He'd actually have a partner to work with instead of doing everything by himself as he was doing for the past five years, but there was no time for that now. He is going to have to focus on finding Yael.

He was about to turn to corner, however the sound of voices caused him to slow down. The young man hugged the wall and peeked over the corner, staring out toward the direction where the voices were coming from.

They were two ordinary soldiers standing by a door, both of them armored and with sword upon their form. The two were talking to each other, their voices echoing in the empty hallway.

"…those shakings earlier," one was saying, "Could it be we are under attack?"

"Who would be foolish enough to attack us here?" the other said, surprised, "This is the boss's home base after all, only an idiot would do that."

"Even so," the first one spoke out, "We have been having trouble with the Lion's Gang in one of our territory, could be them mounting a surprise attack."

"We've got both Azil and Saul here," the other said, "And I saw Karmer earlier…with all three Commanders together, there is no way they'll get far."

The other soldier laughed.

"Yeah, you're probably right," he answered.

_Two guys standing guard, _Shinji thought looking at the two of them, _If I was a betting man, Yael is on the other side of that door._

Shinji placed a hand upon his sword, taking a deep breath before launching himself forward once more, quickly running and crossing the space between his hiding place and where the guards stood. The two of them took notice of his approach and made to grab their weapons but Shinji was already on them and with a single slash of his sword, took both of them down.

The young man then straightened up, staring at the two guards for a few moments, sheathing his blade.

_I expected them to be better…but then again, Minotaur probably through no one could have gotten passed his Commanders._

Shinji shook his head before heading toward the door seeing it locked.

_Okay…_

"Yael…," he called, "Yael, are you in here?"

There were the sound of movement coming from the other side of the door…

"_Shinji?"_

Hearing that familiar voice caused all the tension within the young man to evaporate. He was relieved to be able to hear her voice again.

"Shinji…is that you?" Yael spoke from the other side.

Shinji let out a small smile.

"It's me…," he said, "I've come for you."

"_How did you even find me?" _Yael asked shocked, "I didn't think anyone would have come."

Shinji frowned.

"Did you think you would have been left behind?" he asked her.

"No…it's not that," Yael told him, "It's just…Minotaur and his men are powerful…I didn't want anyone to risk their lives to come here in the Labyrinth."

Shinji stayed silent for a moment.

"Do you remember the promise I made you way back then?" he asked, "I promised you that I will always protect you Yael, no matter what. That is something I will always do…no matter how far apart we are…no matter who take you…you can always count on me to come to save you."

"Shinji…," Yael whispered.

"I don't care how tough the enemy is Yael," Shinji declared to her, "I will always come running, so don't ever doubt me okay."

A light giggle came from the other side of the door.

"Okay, I promise to never doubt you again," she said.

Shinji grinned.

"Good, now can you unlock this door?"

"No…it's locked from the outside with a key…one of the guards probably has it," Yael answered.

Shinji searched the two men and found a key in their pocket. He wasted no time trying to unlock the door and it worked. With a soft click, the door unlocked and he pushed it in, finding Yael standing in the middle of the room.

She was wearing a long dress upon her body as well as a coat upon her upper form. The young woman's long hair fell down upon her shoulders, blonde and bright as the sun itself. Her eyes which were a soft brown stared into his own as they were kind of glistening almost like she had been crying a few moments ago.

"Shinji," she said softly.

The young man crossed the room and took her into a hug, which Yael returned with equal favor. She softly sobbed upon his shoulder.

"I'm sorry it took so long Yael," he told her.

The girl stepped back from the hug, looking at him with a warm smile.

"It's okay," she answered, "I'm just…glad you're finally here."

Shinji gave her a glance before he started to inspect her for injuries.

"You're not hurt, are you?"

Yael shook her head.

"No…," she answered, "They didn't harm me at all."

Shinji gave a nod before taking her hand with his own.

"C'mon," he said, "Let's get you out of here before Minotaur realize what is happening."

Yael only gave him a nod, the two of them making their way out of the room, but as soon as they did so, a magic circle suddenly appeared beneath their feet.

"What the…?" Yael yelled shocked.

Shinji stared at the magic circle for a moment as the light from it suddenly became blinding. He raised his hand toward his face to shield his eyes from it's glow and he can feel Yael's hand tightening upon his and he responded by squeezing back.

Then the light was gone as suddenly as it had come.

"What the hell was that?" Shinji said shocked.

Then he became aware of something else. The corridor they were standing in had disappearing, replacing by a large open area that was filled with windows giving way out of the dark sky beyond it. Shinji glanced around himself taking in the surroundings as Yael stood beside him, looking around as well.

"This…this is the top of the tower," Yael said looking around, "But how did we…?"

Shinji frowned.

"That magic circle…it must have teleported us…," he said.

"_Straight to me."_

Both Shinji and Yael turned at the voice. Minotaur was standing across them, his yellow eyes taking them in. He was wearing his fur upon his shoulder, wild red hair spiking everywhere as the large man stared at the two of them.

Shinji instantly took his stance in front of Yael protecting her from the man across them.

"Minotaur," he said.

"I must admit," the man called Minotaur spoke out, "I was surprised that you managed to defeat Azil. Didn't think they were anyone could have been able to take him down in these lands. Then again, we underestimated you didn't we Shinji, Dragon knight."

Shinji narrowed his gaze at him.

"Then the magic circle from earlier…?"

"I placed a spell upon the Princess," Minotaur told him, "Not that she will know of course however, the spell activated when you tried to leave with her without my consent bringing the two of you here to me. Safe to say, I was curious as to whom would be brave enough to enter my base to try to save a princess."

Then he laughed.

"It's just like in these old fairy tales isn't it?" the man chuckled, "The young knight rushing to save the princess against the mighty beast that had stolen her."

Then Minotaur's hand glowed with magic power as chains appeared around of nowhere wrapping themselves around both Shinji and Yael's form before they could blink. Shinji struggled against them but they were twisting around his wrists like snakes binding them together behind him.

_Damn it…they were so fast I didn't have time to react…_

"Shinji," Yael yelled as she was getting pulled away from him.

The young man turned his eyes toward her making to move but the chains around him were pulling him the opposite direction.

"No…Yael…_DAMN IT_," he yelled.

He turned his gaze toward Minotaur.

"You won't get away with this," he snarled at him.

Minotaur let out a dark chuckle.

"If you're talking about your companion, I've sent Karmer to get her attention," he said, "Don't worry, she'll be heading this way soon enough, after all, I've always wanted to meet one of her kind."

* * *

Aesyr glanced at Saul.

There was something about him that was strange. From the way he was talking earlier, he didn't seem to be similar to that afro guy from the port town she faced when she first arrived in Atlasia. She had expected him to be similar in temperament but the man only fought against her because it seems that Minotaur is the only one that was in power here.

_You're just like him._

Those were the words he said.

"Hey you," she spoke out, "Why did you join Minotaur?"

Saul looked at her but he didn't get to answer as the sound of footsteps drew both of their attentions away from each other and toward the new arrival. Karmer stood there along with a group of soldiers with him and the man was staring at her direction with wide eyes almost like he was afraid of her.

"You again?" she said.

"Karmer…," Saul mumbled looking at him from where he was leaning against the wall.

"This is a disgrace," Karmer spoke out, "To think the Commanders will face such defeat at someone like this…I should have expected it, after all you're not all that human either are you girly."

Aesyr narrowed her eyes at him.

"And what's that suppose to mean?"

"Because if you want to save your friends," Karmer said with a smirk upon his face, "You'll have to go through me…that is if the Boss hasn't been done playing with them yet."

Aesyr's eyes widened.

"Wait…you mean Minotaur has them?" she said, "Then I can't waste anytime here."

With that thought she launched forward just as Karmer yelled out, "Take her down men."

The soldiers that were with him all charged at her. Aesyr narrowed her eyes before she gathered magic around her throat and then with a single yell, launched a breath attack straight toward them blowing them all away from her, all the men screaming in pain at the blast of magic.

Then she was upon Karmer who had his eyes wide in surprise before a punch slammed down upon his face sending him crashing into the ground. Aesyr didn't even stop to see if he was knocked out or not. She just continued to run up toward the upper floors, her nose already locking on Shinji's scent as well as the scent she had picked up that smelled familiar to Hyades Village.

_Damn it…I have to get there quickly before things get worse._

* * *

Saul couldn't help but feel shocked at how the girl had managed to overcame the group that was with Karmer. He seated there completely taken aback by her attack and he knew that she wasn't no ordinary wizard. Her power feels too different than what he was used too.

_She launched that attack from her mouth…just like I thought. She isn't just some run-in the mill fire wizard…but just what is that type of magic she is using…_

He turned his gaze toward Karmer.

"I know that wasn't strong enough to knock you out Karmer," he said, "What was that with that shitty acting you were doing earlier?"

Karmer who had been laying still on the ground slowly seated up.

"That girl hit hard," he said massing his face, "If I didn't face her before, that punch would have knocked me out for sure."

Karmer then turned his gaze toward him, taking in his state.

"So, you lost against her too."

"She was much stronger than I thought she would," Saul told him, "Back to my earlier question, why were you lying earlier?"

Karmer had a sweat appearing upon the side of his face.

"The Boss wanted to face her himself," he said, "All he said that I had to draw her attention toward him…I haven't seen Minotaur like this in a long while…"

Saul frowned.

_What was so special about that girl that Minotaur will want to face her himself?_

"Is that so…?" he murmured.

* * *

Aesyr continued to run up the stairs following her nose as it led her forward. She passed a destroyed hallway a few minutes ago with an unconscious man on the ground and from how strong Shinji's scent had been, the young man must have gone through here shortly after he had left her.

_And there was blood on the floor, _she thought, _Shinji could be hurt…or it could be that wound he took from Karmer's attack in the Port town hasn't healed yet and had reopened. _

The young woman continued her trek toward where her nose leads her, finding herself entering in large area. She walked into the room with a light frown upon her face, her nose picking up Shinji and the smell from Hyades village, probably Yael.

But there was another scent present as well.

"Aesyr."

She glanced upward toward the ceiling at the direction the voice came from finding Shinji hanging there, tied in chains.

"Shinji…how did you get up there?" she asked, surprised.

"Because I walked into a trap," Shinji yelled back.

"I'll get you out," Aesyr told him.

"No, don't worry about me," he told her, "Just save Yael."

Hanging not too far from where Shinji was, a blonde girl was tied to the ceiling also. The young woman was struggling in her bonds but she couldn't break them at all. Feeling her gaze upon her, the blonde girl, Yael met her eyes as soft brown fixed upon her.

Hearing Shinji's words, the girl turned her gaze toward him.

"Don't be foolish Shinji," she said, "We're not going to leave you behind."

A soft chuckle echoed across the large room, drawing their attention toward it. Aesyr already knew that he was there from his scent, so she glanced at him. The man was seating upon a throne that was almost hidden in the shadows with his yellow eyes almost glowing as he stared at her.

"Thank you for joining our little get together," he said standing up from where he sat.

Aesyr turned to face him.

"You must be Minotaur then," she said.

The man's red hair was spiky as it fell upon his shoulders which were covered by fur made into a coat. He grinned at her as he approached, revealing his muscled form to her. He was tall, taller than Aesyr and taller than most men she met in the past.

"Guilty as charged," Minotaur greeted, "But I am the Beast Eater, Minotaur if you want to be specific…no need to introduce yourself. I've heard such a riveting tale from Karmer himself and ever since then, I have been wanting to meet you…and I must admit, you've gained my admiration."

Aesyr narrowed her eyes, feeling confused.

"And what did I do to gain such admiration from you?" she asked, "I'm sure you didn't even know I exist before I set foot unto this country."

Minotaur nodded.

"You are quite right of course," he said, "I may not know you personally, but I have heard of your kind…after all, _you've done such a good job with the Dragon problem in Fiore_."

Aesyr feel her eyes widening understanding what Minotaur was talking about.

_How did he…_

"Dragon problem?" Shinji questioned, confusion in his voice.

Aesyr looked at the knight, hearing the confusion in his tone. The young man was looking in her direction as well.

"Aesyr…what the hell is he talking about?"

Minotaur laughed.

"Oh…she hasn't told you?" he said, "Well, some time ago now, a war exploded within Fiore between the Dragons that resided there. Of course, it was hard to tell which was real and which was embellished during that time but there was one thing that always stayed the same no matter how wild the tales has gotten…"

His eyes focused upon Aesyr once more.

"They told us of people who has been fighting side by side with Dragons," he continued, "People who were given the power to do something that hasn't never been done in the history of mankind. The power to kill Dragons."

Shinji and Yael both gasped in shock at the revelation.

"But that's not where the story gets interesting," Minotaur continued, "They said that the people went mad with power and started killing every Dragon they could find turning it into a bloodbath for Dragonkind…killed so much of them that they reduced the Dragon population to near extinction level…and when Karmer told me of you, I knew that the tales have some truth to them, after all isn't that what you are…"

He extended the hand toward her, pointing at her.

"_Dragon Slayer."_

* * *

**Minotaur's game is revealed...**

** Next Time:** Aesyr vs Minotaur

**Jacques0 out.**

**R&R**


	13. Aesyr vs Minotaur

**Hey guys, here is the next update of this fanfic. Sorry for the long wait about updating.**

**Anyway, enjoy the read.**

**Chapter Cover:** Aesyr and Minotaur glaring up at each other fic.

Chapter Thirteen

Aesyr VS Minotaur

Aesyr was shocked.

She hadn't expected the tales of the Dragon Slayers to have reached Atlasia already. She knew just how wild rumors can get when the ordinary people started to talk about something and how the story can change based on what they are saying. She knew that there was a chance that something like that could have happened but, she hadn't expected to meet with her past again in such a way.

Minotaur was smiling like he had just won a war, amusement visible within those golden eyes of his. He was thoroughly enjoying the situation he had created and she couldn't help the anger growing within her as she stared at him.

"They were many things I was expecting to happen today but for a Dragon Slayer to walk into my home," the large man spoke out shaking his head, "Maybe this is fate telling me that I am on the right path to reach my goal for the Dragon Heart."

Aesyr frowned lightly.

"Dragon Heart?" she repeated.

Minotaur looked at her.

"Is that curiosity I hear?" he said, "the Dragon Heart is the ultimate treasure that the Salvatore Family had hidden away. But like every treasure there is always a path to get it back. The Princess's daughter over here is one of the Key ingredients to finding it, after all, what is stronger than bloodlines between family?"

Aesyr gave the chained blonde woman that was beside Shinji before returning her attention toward the man in front of her.

"But now that you're here Dragon Slayer," Minotaur continued, "You will be another part into my legend. When I get my hands upon the Dragon Heart and having killed you, the tales of your death will boost my reputations within Atlasia as well to the rest making them think about crossing my paths, after all, what do you call a man who can kill Dragon Slayers?"

Aesyr narrowed her eyes at him.

"You want to fight against me?"

Minotaur laughed.

"But of course," he said, "If you want to save your allies up here. The Chains that is holding them are my chains of Enslavement, part of a spell I placed on the Salvatore girl. They will continue to tighten their captors until they are completely crushed within them."

"You wouldn't dare," Shinji yelled, "Yael is important to you…you would never dare to harm her would you?"

Minotaur turned his gaze toward the young man.

"_I never said I needed her to be perfectly healthy for my plans," _he grinned darkly, "A couple of bones broken wouldn't change anything really."

An angry look crossed Shinji's face.

"_MINOTAUR YOU ASSHOLE_….," he yelled before it was cut of by a cry of pain from where he was.

"_Shinji_," both Yael and Aesyr yelled at the same time.

The chains that were holding him had started to glow and were tightening upon the young man's body causing him to yell out in pain as they were squeezing his body from all over.

Aesyr had her eyes wide in shock at what was happening before turning a hate filled gaze toward Minotaur himself. The man noticed the gaze and his grin widened even more.

"Yes…there is the look I was looking for," he laughed, "C'mon Dragon Slayer, show me the power you used to slaughter the Dragon race…?"

"SHUT UP," Aesyr yelled launching at him with a fist covered in silver flames.

Minotaur moved quickly, backhanding her in the face and sending Aesyr flying backward and crashing into one of the far walls of the room, creating cracks upon it. Aesyr let out a gasp of pain from where she had landed before crashing back down upon the ground on her front. Her body wracked with pain as she was shocked, he was even able to move that fast.

Aesyr heard footsteps approaching her so she pulled herself up staring at Minotaur who was walking toward her. The man had removed the fur coat he was wearing letting it fall down upon the floor, his smirk never leaving his lips.

"You're going to have to do better than that," he said as magic was starting to appear around his body, "I want this battle to be one for the legends. Where is that strength, I heard you possess? The strength you defeat my Commanders?"

Aesyr's feet glowed with magic as silver flames burst from them and it launched her straight at him much faster than before. The scales started to appear upon her body as she moved forward, her hand rearing for a punch.

"**Silver Dragon, Hard Fist."**

Her attack met its mark with Minotaur raising his arm to block the attack. The burst of power caused the ground around the two of them to crack and shake with the sudden burst of power as Aesyr grit her teeth pushing forward to break Minotaur's guard.

"That's more like it," Minotaur grinned, "But still not enough to break through me."

Aesyr's eyes widened as she took in his arm.

It had transformed in the split second it had taken her to reach him with her attack. It looked more like the arm of a monster with scales all over its body. She was so taken by the sudden transformation it's why she didn't see the counter coming, slamming straight into her face drawing blood as she felt something stabbing her face before she was sending flying to the other side of the room, landing upon her back causing her to hiss in pain. Pain throbbed on the side of her face as she feels blood flowing freely from that side as she felt the small holes that were there.

Her eyes were drawn toward Minotaur finding him with both of his arms in that strange scaled like appearances as he stared at her, blood dripping from one of his hands…her blood from where the scale had stabbed her.

"The Scales of the Amarl," Minotaur spoke out, "You wouldn't find stronger scales than that beast anywhere in the world. It's so strong that people used to hunt it to use the scales to make armors out of it."

Aesyr narrowed her eyes.

"So you use some form of Take-Over magic?" she asked.

"My magic is Beast Eater," Minotaur said, "Any beast that I absorb became part of me. Take-Over is what you would call the first level but in a Take-Over you can't combine multiple magical beasts together…at least, not in a way that won't kill you."

Aesyr narrowed her eyes at him as she stood up again, her hand going to the wounds on her face before silver flames took presence around her body. The two fighters stared at each other for a few more moments before they both launched at each other, the flames swirling around Aesyr's fists.

Minotaur joined both of his hands together and came down at her but she avoided the attack by dashing to the side, letting it crash against the ground beneath them, cracking the stone masonry. Aesyr then spun both of her hands around as a tornado of flames engulfed Minotaur.

"**Silver Dragon, Flame Tornado."**

The attack caused a massive explosion that blew out all of the windows within the room causing winds to blow everywhere and then Minotaur burst from the flames with a large grin upon his face but now, his entire body was engulfed within that scales like armor around his body. Aesyr had her eyes wide in shock as she stared at him completely taken aback that he was unaffected.

"Sorry, but that has no effect on me," he said.

He then slammed his spiky shoulders straight into Aesyr's body causing to girl to scream out in pain as she was blown backward and crashing upon the ground.

* * *

Shinji was completely horrified at what he was seeing. He knew that he was in pain from the chains around his body, but he wasn't so delirious to not realize what he was seeing right now. He had seen Aesyr take down Karmer and he knew that the girl was strong probably as strong as he was when he unleashed his sword's true form…so why.

_Why was she losing this fight against Minotaur?_

Aesyr was getting overwhelmed was the only thing running through his mind right now. Minotaur had gained the upper hand in this fight and hadn't yet let up at all. Despite Aesyr doing a few attacks to try to push the large man back, Minotaur was like an unmovable object that couldn't be brought down.

_Was it really too much to hope she could defeat him? _he thought to himself looking at Minotaur, anger and rage rising through him.

Given how strong Aesyr was, he had thought with her at his side, he might be able to do something against Minotaur…

_He really is a fucking monster…_

Yael let out a gasp of pain drew his gaze and Shinji's eyes widened taking notice of the glowing chains that were tightening around Yael's body causing the girl to had tears in her eyes given the pain she was feeling coursing through her.

"Yael…," he called out, wanting to help but he couldn't move from where he was.

"I…I'm okay," Yael answered him, her voice laced with pain and trembling, "I haven't broken any bones yet…"

"Damn it…," Shinji struggled against the chains against his own body, "If only I hadn't fallen to this trap…"

"…silver flames," Yael whispered.

The young Knight glanced at the blonde girl, confusion upon his face.

"What?"

Yael's eyes were looking down toward the battle in front of them.

"That girl…she used silver flames in her magic," Yael said, "Those are the flames of the Silver Dragon Elassan."

Shinji blinked surprised.

"Really?"

Yael nodded.

"My mother…used to tell me stories about Elassan. It was said that his flames were always a peculiar phenomenon since no Fire Dragons ever used such flames before him. He is the only one that we know of that could produce flames of such magnitude…the Dragon of the Silver Flame."

Shinji though back to seeing Aesyr fight and sure enough, she had used silver flames in her battle and even when she faced against Saul to let him move on forward and even when she fought against Minotaur, her flames were always silver.

"Now that I think about it," he said, "She really use them….Did Elassan teach her how to make them?"

Yael stayed silent.

* * *

Minotaur was walking toward the fallen Aesyr who was completely bloody on a side of her body as she was lying there. The man had small smirk upon his face as he approached toward her form before stepping upon her body.

"I must say I am disappointed in your performance Dragon Slayer," he grinned, "Is this the power you used to battle against the Dragons? Is this the full might that is needed to kill Dragons? I had expected a stronger resolve from you but it would seem that's just how far you're going to go?"

His hand suddenly glowed with power as he stared down at her form.

"_Die, just like the rest of your kind Dragon Slayer_"

He slammed the powerful blast of magic straight down upon her, destroying a large part of the floor as well.

* * *

_Resolve…_

_**Is that the limit of your resolve?**_

Aesyr was falling and in pain, blood falling from the side of her head and her torso…

_Am I really that weak Elassan?_

Flashback

"_**And I never said that you were weak Aesyr," **__he told me._

_I looked at him, shocked at the revelation._

"_What?"_

"_**You have my power within you…and you've grown quite a lot from when we first started this training," **__Elassan continued, "__**And like I said earlier…you lack resolve. You said that you wanted vengeance against the ones who took your home from you and yet, while you may hate them, you don't have resolve yet."**_

"_Then how do I find my resolve?" I asked._

_Elassan let out a hearty chuckle before looking at me dead in the eyes._

"_**Then let me ask you Aesyr Assan…**_**What are you fighting for?"**

_End of flashback_

Her eyes opened again.

_I am fighting…to save them…_

Flames started to rise from her body.

_I am fighting…to save my friends…._

The flames grew into a roar…

* * *

Minotaur blinked in surprise at the light that was shining from the hole he had send the Dragon Slayer crashing through. He had thought that he had killed her in that last attack but it seems that he was wrong in thinking so.

A large blast of fire grew from the hole destroying it completely and Minotaur instantly jumped back so that he won't get burn with the flames rising high into the room causing surprise and shock at the amount of power that was rising within the room but that wasn't what was so shocking.

The silver flames had taken the shape of a roaring Dragon and he could almost hear the thunderous roar of the said creature over the sound of the burning flames.

_This power…so this is the might of a Dragon Slayer…_

A figure had appeared within the flames. Her eyes glowed from the fire that was around her as the young woman stood there across him, bathed in the silver flames of the Dragon. The look upon her face was different than how it had been during the battle. This one was focused and completely different than the indecisiveness that had been visible before.

* * *

Above them, both Shinji and Yael had wide eyes at what was going on.

"No way…," Shinji said shocked, "Her flames…they're so powerful."

Yael could feel a hum within her reacting to the flames.

_There is no mistaking it…those flames…they are Elassan's…than this girl must be…_

* * *

"Sorry to have kept you waiting," Aesyr spoke out looking at Minotaur across her, "You said that you wanted to fight against a Dragon Slayer did you not?"

She raised a hand, her body still completely bathing in the flames which seems to be coming from her very skin.

"Come at me, Minotaur."

A dark grin grew upon Minotaur's face as his entire body was suddenly engulfed in magic. Horns grew from his head as his chest was starting to be covered in fur and his face came to look more like a bull than a person.

"**Then show me your power…DRAGON SLAYER."**

* * *

**Aesyr rises...**

**Next Time: **Child of the Dragon

**AN: With what's going on the world these past two months, I didn't update any of my stories because it was hard to write with COVID-19. I just couldn't find it to write more chapters for my stories but now that things are calming down mostly...I am starting to write again so no long wait for update again meaning bi-weekly update for Child of the Dragon since it's an original story, I have carte blanche on where the story is going to go and i have big plans for this fic that will tied it to Child of Heaven which this is a prequel to.**

**Please look forward to it.**

**Jacques0 out.**

**R&R**


	14. Child of the Dragon

**Hey guys, here is the next update of this fanfic.**

**Hope you have been enjoying the read so far of this original story. Anyway, enjoy this new one.**

**Chapter Cover: **Aesyr surrounded by silver flames as the shadow of Elassan was behind her...

Chapter Fourteen

Child of the Dragon

Aesyr was staring straight ahead of herself, the silver flames rising from her very skin. The young woman knew that she is going to have to end Minotaur right here to help Shinji and the blonde woman, Yael. She can feel the pain at the wounds she had from the earlier battle but now, she wasn't unfocused anymore.

She was a Dragon Slayer.

And she was going to show Minotaur just what it means to cross a Dragon.

Minotaur had now transformed into a much larger form than before. Its horns rising from his forehead and even his face had taken a more animal like features as he glared at her, thought, she knew that must be what earned him the name "Minotaur."

Then he charged forward, moving surprisingly fast laughing like a maniac the entire way. Aesyr placed herself in a defensive stance as Minotaur reached her and then when he was close to her, she struck forward. Her hands moved quickly toward Minotaur catching him by the horns, the force behind the attack causing the ground to crack beneath her feet as she feels herself getting pulled back for a few inches.

Then with a yell, using the momentum from the charge, she spun the large man in the air and smashed him against the ground with such force that it completely destroyed the floor that was around them as Minotaur was sent crashing down in the level below her.

Staring down at where she had sent him, Aesyr then jumped down toward the fallen Minotaur with the flames dancing around her body. She spun in the air for a few moments before her heels came crashing down upon his form.

"**Silver Dragon Heel," **she yelled out.

Minotaur let out a gasp of pain at the strike, however, Aesyr didn't allow him to have a moment of reprise at all.

With a savage yell, she launched down a fist encased in fire straight down toward him again yelling out the technique.

"**Silver Dragon, Iron Fist."**

A large explosion of fire engulfed Minotaur as the man yelled out as well and then Aesyr jumped back looking at the damage she had caused, a frown upon her features. Minotaur had stayed down for a few moments before the man stood back up. He had some bruises upon his form but other than that he looked completely unscathed, a small grin upon his face.

"Well, that's more like it," he grinned.

Aesyr narrowed her eyes as she took her stance once more.

Then Minotaur suddenly let out a blast of magic from his lips causing her to widen her eyes in shock, but she has managed to avoid the attack by dodging to the side. Minotaur then dashed forward once more, his punches coming fast and hard toward Aesyr who was dodging a lot of them, thought some managed to meet their marks.

"**Beast Magic, Cheetah,"**

Then his punches suddenly became blurs and Aesyr let out a yell of pain as she was suddenly getting hammered with multiples punches with the speed of lightning causing blood to appear from her lips and then a kick straight into her stomach. Pain surged from the wounds she had there as she was blown backward, before landing upon the ground in a shoulder role, which Aesyr instantly used to get back to her feet in a crouch.

Blood dripped from the wound she had there as she glared at her enemy.

"**Beast Magic Combination, Cheetah, Armor, Flight."**

Aesyr looked at the man as his body had changed yet again, the strange armored like arms appearing upon his arms and legs as well as some strange feathers growing upon his back. Minotaur had a grin upon his face as he stared at her and then he moved.

_Fast._

Aesyr barely had time to think before a powerful punch slammed into her face, and she could feel her nose breaking underneath the power of the punch as she stumbles backward. She launched a retaliating punch forward but Minotaur was gone from the position that was in front of her. Aesyr blinked in surprise for a moment but then two feet slammed into her back sending her flying forward and landing upon her front.

_Shit…he is moving fast, _she thought, _It must have been one of those Beast he absorbed that can move at such speed…and not only that he used that strong armor again… Beast Eater magic…_

Aesyr stood up, glancing around herself.

"What's the matter?" Minotaur's voice echoed all around her, "If you're standing in one place, you'll make yourself an easy target."

He suddenly was there, slamming another kick into her stomach causing the girl to jump backward and landing down upon the ground in a crouch again.

_Can't see him…but I don't have to see him to be able to hit him…_

Focusing on her hearing and scent, Aesyr moved forward and then instantly raised a hand which caught Minotaur's wrist. Then she launched the flaming fist straight into Minotaur's jaws drawing blood. The large man let out an ack sound at the attack, but he was still standing glaring down at her.

"How did you managed catch me?"

"You should learn to not underestimate a Dragon Slayer," Aesyr told him.

And then she took a deep breath.

"**Silver Dragon, Infernal Roar."**

A large blast of silver flames exploded from Aesyr's mouth which was aimed straight at Minotaur's face. The fire completely engulfed him and the Labyrinth shook around them as the blast of fire blew the man away from where she was. A massive hole was blown into the side of the large fortress as Minotaur had completely being blown away from her completely.

Aesyr stood there, flames licking out of her lips as she glared at the direction, she had sent him flying to.

* * *

To say Minotaur didn't expect that last attack was an understatement.

The fire were hot against his skin and he can feel nothing but pain across his form from where he had landed blown away from the girl's powerful flame breath attack. He had never expected that last attack to be this strong against him.

Minotaur groaned as he pulled himself into a seating position, looking out in front of him and was shocked to see trees nearby. Blinking, he chanced a glance around himself and took notice that he was outside of the Labyrinth fortress and his attention returned forward and his eyes widened in shock taking notice of the Fortress in front of but what truly shocked him was the massive hole that was blown through the stone of the fortress itself.

_She threw me…out of the Labyrinth and into the outside…no wonder my body is throbbing with pain like that...To think…she was this strong…Could this be the power I will possess with the Dragon Heart?_

Minotaur pulled himself up looking down at his hands seeing that he was no longer in his Beast Form. He blinked in surprise at the phenomenon, completely taken aback by it.

_It was so powerful…that I can no longer maintain my Beast Form?_

"Did you see that?"

"Something fell over here?"

Minotaur's attention was drawn toward the approaching soldiers. His men who were guarding the outside of the Labyrinth castle.

"Lord Minotaur?" one said shocked when he caught sight of him.

A flash of silver in the darkness caused him to look up toward the sky and with a yell Aesyr aimed straight toward him and Minotaur had to raise a hand to block the attack. The black lash caused everyone to be thrown away from them as the two stared at each other. Minotaur stared into those eyes as Aesyr faced him and then the two separated once more.

"You really are strong," he said looking at her, "To think I would be pushed this far by someone like you."

"You said that you wanted to face the might of someone who can kill a Dragon," Aesyr told him.

The young woman cracked her fingers, glaring at him.

"_Shall we continue?"_

"Lord Minotaur," one of the soldiers yelled drawing his attention.

The rest of the soldiers were approaching them with angry faces. They had their weapons out as they ran toward them.

"_Don't interfere," _Minotaur yelled out, "_This is my fight."_

The soldiers stopped but had confused expressions upon their faces. Minotaur forgotten about them and turned to face the young Dragon Slayer. The flames were dancing around her body once more bright silver in the night air around them and Minotaur transformed once more into his Beast Form. He was running low on magic power and the last attack had done some real damage to him.

_But I won't lose to her, _he thought, _Not when my goal is so close…the Dragon Heart…I will find it._

He launched forward and Aesyr did the same as well. They meet in the middle exchanging blows for blow and Minotaur couldn't help but grasp in pain as he was hit. Considering how low he was in magic power, he couldn't use his Armor form right now and each of his opponents hit, had way more power behind them then before but he would not give up this battle.

_I can't lose…_

He smashed a fist straight into her face causing Aesyr to falter back a few steps but as he was going to attack with another, Aesyr moved, a fist covered flame smashing straight toward his stomach causing him to let out an ack sound in shock at the power that send him stumbling backward.

_What the hell…is she stronger than me?_

Minotaur looked up at her.

"I won't lose to you damn it," he yelled, charging forward.

Aesyr joined both of her hands together the flames spinning around her.

"**Silver Dragon Secret Arts, Spinning Silver Flame Explosion."**

His vision was completely overcoming by the fire causing him to yell out in pain, and before he passed out from the powerful attack, Minotaur swore he saw a large Dragon jaws approaching to swallow him whole.

* * *

Her ultimate technique had completely engulfed her enemy as Minotaur yelled out in pain at being completely defeated. The ground shook terribly as some trees were deterred from the attack completely and when the smoke was gone, Minotaur was lying down upon the ground in his human form completely out for the count.

Aesyr let out a soft breath as she stood there facing her fallen foe. This battle had been harder than she had thought it would be and she can feel the pain that was throbbing through her form however, now that she knew she had defeated Minotaur, she can feel herself relax lightly.

"No way…,"

"She defeated Minotaur…,"

"Is this a dream…?"

She turned her attention toward the remaining soldiers that were in Minotaur's camp. The young woman stood tall as she stared at them, a frown upon her eyes. Around her, the sky had started to become light and it wasn't long before sunlight was shining from somewhere behind her.

"Do you want to take me on?" she asked turning to face them as flames appeared around her body.

The soldiers were actually afraid as they looked at her before they all started to run away from her leaving her standing alone with the fallen Minotaur. Noticing that they were gone, Aesyr dismissed the flames before falling down upon her knees, the exhaustion and the blood lost she had taken during the fight finally catching up to her and it wasn't long before she collapsed upon the ground.

"Damn it…I over did it again."

* * *

Shinji and Yael were shocked then the chains that had been holding them suddenly disappeared from their form. The two landed upon the ground in a crouch, surprised at what had just happened. Shinji glanced around himself for a moment as the morning sunlight started to shine through the windows that were around him.

"The chains…they've gone," Yael said looking at him, "You don't think…?"

Shinji nodded.

"She won," he said, "She defeated Minotaur."

Yael looked away from him for a moment, and she seems to be lost in thoughts. Shinji couldn't actually believe that Minotaur was actually defeated for good. He never thought that there was someone in this side of Atlasia that could defeat him and here…it finally happened.

"This is the beginning of a change Yael," he said drawing her attention.

"Let's get out of here," Yael told him, "I don't know about you but I don't want to stay here longer than necessary."

Shinji agreed and it wasn't long before they left the Labyrinth fortress behind and finding Yael unconscious on the ground. Taking one of the carriages, Shinji drove it away with Yael and Aesyr in the back, thought Yael had Aesyr's head in her lap.

The young woman was looking down at Aesyr face. She was gently cleaning off the blood that was upon her face and as she was working, Aesyr actually opened her eyes for a moment. Those dark eyes met her own and there was a light question within them for a moment but before she could say anything, the young woman had lost consciousness again.

_You bear the flames of Elassan…I can feel it within myself that his power lives now in you. The power of the Dragon of the Silver Flame. I don't know how is such things possible, but I thank you…Dragon Child._

Yael then turned her attention toward the distancing Fortress. There was a matter of worry within her. Minotaur couldn't have stumbled upon the knowledge about the Dragon Heart all by himself. Her family had always been careful about their secrets and not even her own mother knew how to find it and yet, Minotaur knew that her blood will be needed. Even if someone did find Dragon Heart by some chance, they wouldn't know about needing her blood for it.

There was someone out there hunting for her family's lost secrets and Yael don't know how she felt about it.

* * *

Minotaur suddenly gasped awake. The man glanced around himself for a few moments, wondering where he was. He was still lying down near the Fortress and can't help but feel pain rushing through him. He couldn't believe that he had lost the battle against that Dragon Slayer.

Then the sound of footsteps drew his gaze.

"Who's there?" he called out.

Then the person appeared, and Minotaur feel himself pale as he stared at them.

"You…,"

"_Your part in this matter is over Minotaur," _the figure spoke out.

Minotaur looked at them.

"I still haven't found the Dragon Heart," he said.

The person chuckled.

"_Your services have been noticed my gentle pawn," _they continued raising a hand, "_But for now, I have no further use of you."_

"No please…," Minotaur said.

"_Begging? How the mighty Fallen God has fallen," _the person said and snapped their fingers.

Minotaur's entire body was suddenly engulfed by a light as the man screamed out in pain. When the light was gone, the man was gone and all that remained was the small chess piece with a Minotaur head. The figure approached and picked it up the white piece.

The person looked at it for a few moments, a small smirk crossed their lips.

"_The Dragon and the Princess have now been drawn together_," they said, "_That time is finally approaching again…Lumen Galaxia …"_

They looked up toward the shining moon above them.

* * *

**An onimous prediction...**

**ACHIEVEMENT UNLOCKED: **Welcome to Atlasia.

**So end this First Arc in my story. Hope you have enjoyed the read so far. Quite an introduction to this fic and the characters. I hope to do them justice in the long run as more cast of them are introduced. See you in two weeks.**

**Next Time: **Changing Winds

**Jacques0 out.**

**R&R**


	15. Changing Winds

**Hey guys, sorry for the long wait but anyway, here is the next update.**

**And the start of the newest Arc.**

**Chapter Cover: **A flag dancing in the wind with a Silver Dragon sigil upon it.

Chapter Fifteen

Changing Winds

In the west of Atlasia, grew a city known as Atlas. Many who visited this city always remember the shimmering lake that seat right by the city's side, glimmering as if one was made of sapphires. This very city was the seat of power within Atlasia and was also known as the Heart of the Imperium.

The Imperium was the Order of Wizards that mostly focuses on maintaining the order within the continent among it's many mages that exist. It is also responsible for dealing with any problem regarding mages and any type of magic. If they were dark magic being used by people then the Imperium would crush it without mercy. Before the fall of the Salvatore Royal Family, the Imperium was directly under their influence and they followed the Royals decrees to a letter.

However, things have changed in the past fifty years.

* * *

There was an underlying air of tension within the room. At the heart of the Imperium building a meeting was taking place. It wasn't unusual for meetings to be taking place within this very room as the Council of Magisters debated on the best approach to deal with many of the growing problems that plagued the continent over the years and yet, today this wasn't an ordinary meeting.

About an hour ago, a report had come from the East. While that wasn't strange by itself, it was the nature of the report that had prompted the emergency meeting that was happening right now. The report itself was based around the rumors that the Beast Eater Minotaur one of the powers in the East had been defeated by an unknown wizard.

It was unthinkable that something of such caliber could happen right under their notice, but then again, their informant hadn't been able to truly guess what Minotaur was after.

"For such a thing to happen like this," one of the Magister spoke out, "I didn't think they had anyone who was capable of such feat."

The man who had spoken had long gray hair and beard. He was dressed in a cloak with a high collar which reached his ears. The shirt he wore had a ring pattern upon it as he was leaning upon the armrest of the chair, he was seating on, a thoughtful expression upon his features.

**Magister Rodrik**

"It would seem the Imperium has gotten lax with it's security if something like that had happened right underneath our nose," Rodrik continued, his eyes looking at the other fives.

"Are you implying something Rodrik?" another Magister asked, eyes narrowing with anger.

This one had purple hair and his similarly colored eyes were glaring dagger into Rodrik's general direction. He was wearing a fancy suit upon his form as he had both of his hands upon the table in front of him.

**Magister Bane**

Rodrik let out a small chuckle.

"I meant no offense," Rodrik said.

"Could such an attack have an effect upon the others?" a woman asked with a light frown.

She had dark hair falling upon a side of her face. Her skin was fair and pale. She was wearing a low-neck dress that showed an ample cleavage. Her dark hair was falling upon her pale shoulders as well as both of her hands were upon her lap beneath the table. One of her most obvious features was the lone wine-red eye that was staring in their direction.

**Magister Clara Bell**

"I doubt it," Bane spoke out, "Minotaur had always been a wild dog. He wouldn't ally himself with the other Fallen Gods. He was always too arrogant, too full of himself."

Clara Bell didn't seem to be convinced as she narrowed her eye at him.

"You think just because the man is arrogant that he isn't cunning?" she asked, "A wild dog Minotaur may be but he was still a Fallen God. The others might take actions on something like that happening to one of their owns."

"We have been keeping eyes upon the movements of the others Clara," another Magister spoke, "But they haven't been any movements from them at all. There is a chance that they didn't even care."

The other woman who spoken had white hair. She was significantly older than Clara her eyes a deep emerald. She was wearing a simple dress with a witch hat upon her head with both of her hands joined together.

**Magister Ella Bones**

"However, we must keep an eye upon this new arrival," Ella continued, "If they were strong enough to defeat the likes of Minotaur, then their powers must be at least on that level if not more powerful than one of them. We have to work quickly to gain them under our thumbs before this can spread any further."

Bane had a surprised expression upon his face, his purple eyes wide in surprise at what the older woman was implying. Rodrik let out a soft hum as he was staring at the woman. He knew that Ella would have given such a directive. He had almost expected it to happen.

Clara Bell titled her head lightly.

"You suggest…we made this person into a Fallen God?" she asked.

"At the least," Ella said.

"This is reckless," Bane spoke out, "We should just send in the Wardens and deal with them accordingly. We should have dealt with Minotaur a long time ago and this person came in and did it for us. We should take care of it before they become another "_Magical Disaster_"."

Clara looked at him.

"The _Magical Disaster_ had burrowed itself in the Northern Mountains and hadn't left since," she said, "Other than the tragedy that happened at Mamatsu village, they hadn't been any incident involving her."

"That tragedy shouldn't have happened at all, if _someone_ had done their job." Bane growled, his eyes looking straight at Ella.

Ella glared right back.

"Enough,"

All of the Magister glanced at the head of the table where the Leader of the Imperium Magisters was seating. A young man with blue hair was seating there dressed in a white pants and long sleeve. He was looking at them with cat like yellow eyes as his hair fell down around his head with two bangs falling on either side of his face, thought the more curious had been the two horns that grew from his forehead, the size of a finger each.

**Magister Lucis of the Sun Demon Tribes**

"Lord Lucis," Bane asked surprised.

The man sighed lightly.

"Magister Ella had the right idea in making this new arrival a Fallen God," Lucis spoke out, his voice as smooth as velvet, "The lands that Minotaur has been in control of has fallen into disarray if the reports have been accurate. A New Fallen God might be just what is needed to get it back under control once more."

Lucis leaned forward, a light frown appeared upon his features.

"Rodrik," he spoke out calling the older man's attention, "You will travel to Hyades Village and meet with this new arrival and tell them of our situation."

The man blinked in surprise.

"Huh? Me?"

Lucis stared at him, his eyes glinting lightly.

"Yes you," he said, "You are one of our negotiators after all. Your silver tongue will be needed in this situation. I am sure everyone in this room share the same opinions."

They were nods around the room thought Bane let out a small sigh.

"You do not approve Magister Bane?" Lucis asked.

"I have my reservation about giving someone we have no idea about the title," the Magister spoke out, "However if this is the will of the Imperium then I will abide by it."

"That is one of the reasons why I chose Rodrik," Lucis said looking at the man, "He is a good judge of character."

Rodrik let out a small chuckle.

"While I do appreciate the vote of confidence," he bowed, "I will do as you command Magister Lucis. Thought I can admit I am curious myself as to what type of person could have bested Minotaur."

* * *

**Hyades Village**

It had been a few days since Minotaur was defeated. Shinji, Yael and the wounded Aesyr had returned from the battle against Minotaur victorious. The old knight, Bartholomew had been shocked to see them return that late afternoon with the young woman and Aesyr had been taken to be healed from the injuries she had sustained against Minotaur.

That was days ago.

Now that her injuries were better, Aesyr had been helping the villagers of Hyades Village clear through the rubbles and the destruction of Minotaur's attack. Dressed in a sleeveless shirt and pant, the dark-skinned girl was carrying some logs, her white hair pulled in a high bun keeping it out of her face, thought some strands still fall on the side of her face.

She made her forward walking through the ruins and placing what she was carrying upon the piles. One of the villagers, an older man glanced at her.

"Good job girl," he said with a light nod, "We might be able to clear out this part before noon."

Aesyr nodded at him.

"I'm just happy to help out," she said.

The man glanced at her, most likely toward the bandages that were upon her skin.

"You sure you should be walking around the way you are," he asked, "I mean you're injured."

Aesyr looked at the bandages.

"It's not as bad as it looks," she said giving him a light smile, "I have always been able to heal quickly no matter how bad I got hurt, so don't worry about it."

The man gave her a look but he nodded.

"Well as long as you're sure," he said with a light nod.

Aesyr returned the look before turning her attention back toward the village itself. Most of the homes were destroyed in the fire from the attack and already the people were already hard at work in rebuilding it. Split into two large teams, were the builders and the cleaners.

The cleaners mostly like Aesyr were simply working around to remove the debris from the homes and clear out the debris from the fire and clearing out the area that were needed to built new homes. While the builders formed of the craftsmen of the village were rebuilding what they had lost. It was fortunate that no one actually lost their lives during the attack as most of the village had evacuated during the initial attack.

The only people had gotten injured where the soldiers who faced the Minotaur forces in combats and they had some life threatening one but Helen had managed to keep them alive with her healing and medicines.

It's a miracle that no one actually died during this entire thing, and Aesyr can thank her lucky stars that no one did die. She couldn't handle an innocent person's death upon her conscience given she already blamed herself for what had happened to Elassan's and speaking of that. She had told everyone the truth about what happened to Elassan.

She didn't want to keep it a secret any longer…thought she wasn't really keeping it a secret. She can still remember their expression in knowing that the Dragon God they all probably worshipped and respected was dead. They've deserved to know the truth even if that truth was hard to bear.

"Aesyr?"

The young woman paused in what she was doing before turning in the direction who had called her. It was the old knight Bartholomew. The man was waiting for her at the bottom of the pile she was standing on. Aesyr descended and approached him.

"Yael wanted to talk to you," he said.

Aesyr nodded and the two of them settled to a brisk walk.

"I want to thank you again for what you've done," Bartholomew told her drawing her gaze.

"Shinji was going to charge ahead by himself to try to save her," Aesyr told him with a light shrug of her shoulders, "I simply went with him so that he doesn't get himself killed."

"Given what Yael had told me, it's a good thing you did," the man told her, "I had no plan to go rescue her and even if I did, I could have never defeated Minotaur in a one on one battle. Maybe if I was younger but I am no longer as young as I was back then."

Aesyr stayed silent as the two continued on leaving the construction zone behind and heading toward the small establishment that had been built. They were a few children playing around within the area along with some people working on making food for the workers when they were done. Aesyr and Bartholomew walked pass that into the small hut at the end of the courtyard.

Yael was at the entrance dressed in lighter clothing with her hair falling upon her back. When she noticed them approach, the young woman smiled brightly and waved them over. Bartholomew waved and Aesyr simply followed after him.

"I brought her as you asked," the old man spoke out.

"Thank you," Yael said, but then she frowned lightly, "You won't join us?"

"I still have some things to work over with the village chief," the old man said, "I'll leave the two of you to it."

With a slight nod, the man walked away. Aesyr looked at his back for a few moments before turning toward the blonde girl.

"Come on, seat with me," Yael told her.

Aesyr obliged taking a seat upon the floor beside Yael as the two of them looked out toward the homes that were around them.

"Are you feeling okay?" Yael asked her.

Aesyr glanced at her for a moment, thinking about the last few days.

"It's been alright since we defeated Minotaur," she said, "Haven't seen Shinji in a while."

Yael smiled sadly.

"He went to speak with one of his contacts," she said, "They have been rumors going on that he was concerned with."

Aesyr was surprised.

"I'm surprised he left in such a hurry," she said, "After doing all of that to rescue you. I thought he would have stayed around longer."

A soft laugh escaped Yael, "You don't know Shinji very, well do you? That boy was never one to sit still anywhere. There is always something that he needs to do, some other quest he set himself up to accomplish."

Aesyr stayed silent for a moment, thinking.

"This hasn't got anything to do with what I revealed about Elassan did it?"

Yael glanced at her.

"I don't know," she said, "I can't speak for him but I know that I was saddened to hear his passing. I had always had this hope that I would meet him one day."

"I'm sorry I wasn't strong enough to protect him," Aesyr said softly to her, the guilt of what had happened still eating at her.

A gentle hand was placed upon her shoulder. She glanced toward Yael finding a kind gentle smile directed at her.

"It wasn't your fault," she said.

"That's what everyone say," Aesyr told her, "But it doesn't make it hurt any less."

"I know," Yael said to her, "I too, have lost people that I care deeply for."

The two sat in companionable silence for a few moments longer. It had been a long time since Aesyr had felt companionship with someone else before. Not since Ace and Elassan back then.

"Do you mind if I ask you something?" she asked.

Yael glanced at her, curious.

"What is the Dragon Heart?"

There was a moment of silence as Yael turned her gaze toward the people that were in front of them. Her gaze seems to be so far away, almost like she was lost in thoughts. Aesyr could see a trace of sadness within her eyes.

"The Salvatore family had ruled Atlasia for a long time," she said, "You can look our history and you will find at least someone bearing that name as they caused a change within this land. In a family of wizards, it was the way it had always been, but the Salvatore always had their secrets as well."

Yael glanced at her.

"Dragon Heart is one of those secrets," she said, "Only the members of the royal family and their close confidents would know about it. Its' one of the reasons that puzzle me as to why Minotaur knew about it."

"It's a powerful magic then?" Aesyr guessed.

"If you would like to think of it like that," Yael told her with a light shrug, "The way the story goes is that long ago, one of our ancestors Dani Salvatore met a Dragon that lived in the lands that will be later known as Dragmount. Because of that close friendship they've formed, the Dragon granted her a gift…and it was that gift that was known as Dragon Heart."

Yael fell silent for a moment.

"Now it is my turn to ask you a question," she said, "When you were battling Minotaur, you used silver flames the same type of flames that Elassan used. You said that he taught you this magic but you never said how he did it."

Aesyr looked away.

"He used an enchanting magic," she said, "the Queen of Dragnov, Irene Belserion is a powerful enchantress and was able to gave birth to the spell. She called it Dragon Slayer magic."

"Dragon Slayer," Yael murmured, "The power to slay Dragons…then, what Minotaur said was true. You killed Dragons."

"It was war," Aesyr said curtly.

"I'm sorry" Yael spoke out softly, " I didn't mean to draw out unpleasant memories."

She let out small smile.

"But I am glad that you're here," she said drawing Aesyr's gaze once more, "If you weren't, I probably wouldn't be here and Shinji would most likely have been killed going against Minotaur alone. I don't know about the others yet, but I will be grateful if you stayed."

Aesyr looked at her surprised at the offer.

"You want me to stay here…in Atlasia?"

Yael nodded.

"Didn't you come here because you made a promise to Elassan? If you stayed, it could be a way of honoring that promise."

Aesyr let out a small hum, thinking to herself. She had already starting to make up her mind to go look for Ace, wherever he may be. She didn't think that she was wanted here and given the bad reputation Dragon Slayers gained because of Acnologia, she didn't have a home there either…

But if she could stay here in Atlasia…maybe she can…

"Alright…," she said looking at the young woman beside her, "_I'll stay._"

* * *

**A new friendship is formed...**

**Next Time: **Advent of the Dragon Knights

**Jacques0 out.**

**R&R**


	16. Advent of the Dragon Knights

**Hey guys, long time. Sorry for that...real life took over and i haven't been writing as much as i did in the past.**

**But anyway, here is a update for this fic. don't worry, i haven't abandoned this and i have many plans for the future of this story and future arcs that i wish to write but anyway, enjoy this new update.**

**Chapter Cover: **Yael seating by a beach with a jacket upon her form as she was smiling brightly at the camera.

Chapter Sixteen

Advent of the Dragon Knights

Shinji had his hood up when he entered the town. He had been there before in the past and it was the first time he was actually going back in a long while. The rumors he had been hearing about was staring to worry him, thought, he was still mulling over what he had learned about Elassan.

Aesyr's story about the Dragon stung him deeply. He had always hoped within himself that the Dragon would return and maybe help them reclaim the lands that they had lost to Minotaur or at least, help them turn things back to how they were before the Dragon Knights fell to Minotaur's attack. Tightening the hold upon his cloak, the young man shook his head.

There was no time to think about this now, not when this new rumor had started to reach his ears. Shinji had always kept his ears open for new rumor going around, a habit he developed over the years when he was tracking down Minotaur's movements but this new rumor had worried him and going to meet with one of his contacts to make sure if it was true or not.

The young man continued down the street until he came to see exactly what he was looking for. The small establishment of GOOD DRINKS was right in front of him and in no time, Shinji stepped inside and removing his hood, letting his blond hair fall around his eyes.

The place was filled with people drinking their days away and conversations going on around him. Shinji walked through himself drawing some eyes but people quickly went back to their stuff, possibly the sight of a stranger in a cloak not really a unfamiliar sight around here anymore. Shinji glanced around the room for a few moments before his eyes found who he was looking for.

He made his way toward the table and came to a stop in front of it.

"You're late," the person seating down spoke out, "I was starting to think you weren't coming."

"You received my message, right?" Shinji answered.

"I did," the person said, "C'mon, take a seat."

Shinji did as he asked looking at his companion. It was an older man with some spiky red hair. He had a scar upon his cheek probably from a sword. The man was nursing a cup of sake within his palm and his brown eyes looked straight at him, a light frown on his face.

"I've heard word that Minotaur was brought down," the man started, "It spread like wildfire around this part of Atlasia. Word is that even the Imperium had taken notice."

"Why would they be interested in that?" Shinji asked, "They've never even lifted a finger to help in the past before."

The redhead shrugged, "It's possible whoever defeated Minotaur is strong enough to be a Fallen God. Wizards that powerful don't go unnoticed for long."

Shinji narrowed his eyes lightly.

_Aesyr…I'm going to have to speak to her when I get back, _he thought.

"And the Golden Lions, Yakame," he said, "What about them?"

Yakame leaned his head back.

"They have been words that they've been attacking old Minotaur's territory and taking them over," he said, "My guys and I don't get involved in territory disputes but it's bad. Minotaur was an asshole, there is no wrong in saying that but since he's been gone, a lot of unsavory people had free reigns in the entire side of his territories."

Shinji stayed silent for a moment.

"Thanks," he said, "I appreciate the intel."

Yakame nodded.

"Now I'll be heading for Mokorro," the man said, "I've got a job in that region…you keep yourself safe alright Shinji."

The young man gave him a nod a brief smile.

"I'll be fine," he said, "I've been going fine for the past five years."

Yakame didn't seem convinced but gave a brief nod.

"Very well," he said, "Farewell then."

"Farewell Yakame."

The redhead man left him on the table and Shinji ran a hand through his blond hair. He hadn't expected the situation to deteriorate this quickly. He had always believed that taking down Minotaur would have made everything better for them but with the news of the Golden Lions moving in…

_I best head back to Hyades, _he thought.

With that final thought, Shinji stood up and left.

* * *

It didn't take him long to return to the village and as he entered, he saw that most of the ruins were cleared out in the few days he had been gone and some of the homes have already started being rebuilt, but most of the villagers still lived in tents they have built away from the ruins of the village. It didn't take him long to find Aesyr and Yael as the two young women were sharing a tent and a meal together.

Aesyr was the first to see him, her blue eyes instantly fixing him with a stare and Yael was confused for a moment before looking at where she was looking at and her eyes light up at noticing him.

"Shinji, you're back."

"I'm back," Shinji smiled, feeling his heart lightening at the radiant smile that was directed his way, "How are things going since I left?"

"We've been slowly rebuilding the village," Yael answered, "And work has been slow but Aesyr and I have become friends."

Shinji glanced at the white-haired girl, raising an eyebrow. Aesyr simply shrugged.

"We have," she said simply.

Shinji let out a small hum.

"There are a lot of things that I need to talk about and you both need to hear it," he said, "And Bartholomew as well."

Yael had a concerned look upon her features and Aesyr looked vaguely curious.

"Alright," Yael said, "I'll get him and the village chief."

Shinji nodded as the young girl left him and Aesyr together. Shinji glanced at the woman, the Dragon Slayer that was beside him. Aesyr wasn't wearing her bandages anymore unlike before he left.

"Friends huh?" he said with a raised eyebrow.

"I've decided to stay here in Atlasia," Aesyr told him, "It wasn't a big decision either…I don't have anything waiting for me out there anyway."

Shinji glanced back at the village.

"There is something I need to ask you Aesyr," he said drawing the young woman's attention, "If you're really staying but later alright."

Aesyr was curious but she nodded at him. They didn't have to wait too long for Yael to return with both Bartholomew and the village Chief, Toto. An elderly man with black hair thought he had some white upon it. His jaw was shadowed by a stubble growing and his sharp green eyes looked at them as he entered.

"Ah…good, you're here Shinji," he said, taking notice of him, "We have a situation in our hands."

Shinji blinked.

"A situation?"

"Yes," Toto told him, "We have reached out to our sister village Valdes; however they seem to be facing some problem there as well and they've requested your help."

Shinji crossed his arms.

"Did they say what type of problem that it was?" he asked.

Toto shook his head.

"No," he said, "But with that problem in place, we wouldn't be able to complete building back our villages. Valdes is home to many builders and they are going to be needed to help us rebuilt quickly. The work would speed up considerably if we have some experienced builders among us."

"Then I'll have to go look into it," Shinji sighed.

The young man let out a small sigh yet again at the problems that were mounting against them. Yael seems to have noticed something on his face for she was the one who spoke out.

"You said you had something you wanted to tell us," she said.

Shinji looked up at her.

"Yes," he said, "A few days ago I have spoken to one of my contacts. The words going around Atlasia that Minotaur had been defeated thought it is unclear as to whom had done it. Since his defeat, however, the Golden Lions have been making their moves upon his old territories."

Bartholomew frowned.

"I'm not surprised," he said, "With Minotaur gone and his forces broken…of course they'll jump at the chance to grab power."

"Who are the Golden Lions?" Aesyr asked, confused.

Shinji glanced at her.

"They're a group similar to what Minotaur was," he said, "They're the seconds to his forces and given Minotaur's power they were always second fiddles to him, and he never let them forget about it either. But now that he is no more, they have grown bold and the chaos is only growing more and more frequents."

He looked at the group in front of him.

"After we deal with Valdes's problem," he said, "We can focus on that."

The people nodded around him, thought Aesyr stayed silent for a moment.

"Guess I am coming with you on that then," she said looking at him.

Shinji nodded.

"You are," he said, "But not for the reason you think."

Aesyr seems confused.

"Huh?"

"I want you to become a Dragon Knight," Shinji said pointing at her.

Everyone stared at him in shock even Aesyr.

"You want to make her into a Dragon Knight?" Yael asked surprised.

"She was already one," Shinji said, "When Elassan gave you that coin, he made you into a Dragon Knight. I doubt that he really knew the state of our Order when he was in Fiore but the Dragon Knight are all but gone except for me and…it will be nice to have some backup."

Aesyr was surprised at what he was saying, from how round her eyes were. She opened her mouth and closed it but the words didn't seem to be coming out at all.

"I think it's a great idea," Bartholomew spoke out drawing their gazes, "The Dragon Knights were the guardians of Peace and Justice in Atlasia. If we can make Atlasia remember that, we can change this land for the better, make things better for the people who had suffered under Minotaur's rules and maybe remind them that they can be protected."

Yael seems to agree.

"I have few memories of the Dragon Knights but," she said, "I'm sure many people remember them fondly."

Shinji looked at the girl.

"What do you say?" he asked her.

* * *

To say Aesyr was surprised was saying something. She had never expected this to happen honestly. She knew that she would stay in Atlasia but to think that Shinji would have offered her to join the Dragon Knights. She didn't really know what to say really but a memory pulled into her mind.

Flashback

"_**It's an old tradition from my homeland," **__Elassan spoke out, "__**Those who prove themselves worthy warriors of Dragmount were given such coins as proof of their status. It's akin to something like an object of pride."**_

_I stared up at him in shock at what he was giving me._

"_And…you're giving me this?" I said shocked._

_Elassan nodded._

"_**The way this has happened may not have been how I envisioned it, but you have managed to not only learn my magic and be proficient at it," **__the dragon spoke, "__**You have done well to learn it Aesyr and I think that a reward like that is more than enough in my eyes."**_

End of Flashback

She pulled out the coin she kept upon herself glancing down at the Dragon symbol that was upon the top of the object. She stared down at it for a few moments before looking up toward the group that was in front of her.

"I accept," she said.

A smile appeared upon the blond young man's face.

"Excellent," he said, extending his hand, "Give me your coin."

Aesyr did so and Shinji looked down at it for a few moments and then his hand glowed with some magic and then in front of everyone, the coin extended outward as a long chain appeared around him transforming it into a necklace that was glowing with some magic.

"What are you?" she asked shocked.

"There is a spell upon the coin," Shinji told her, "That only a Dragon Knight can use. They are usually a ceremony but given that I am the only Dragon Knight here, I simply activated the spell."

When the spell was done, the necklace now landed in his palm. Shinji then extended it toward her, indicating that she would take it. Aesyr did and placed the necklace around her neck. She can feel a light hum of magic coming from object around her neck as she stared at the coin with the symbol of the Dragon upon it. As it was glowing Shinji's own coin from around his neck started glowing beneath his clothing. They resonated for a few moments before the light dissipated.

"It's done," he said looking at her, "You are now a Dragon Knight Aesyr."

Aesyr looked at him, a strange feeling of belonging surging through her. A rare smile worked it's way upon her lips as she observed them in front of her.

"This is truly a wonderful day," Yael spoke with a light smile upon her lips, "The Dragon Knights rises once more."

Shinji had a light grin upon his lips.

"it won't take us long to reach Valdes," he said, "We'll leave tomorrow."

* * *

**Somewhere…**

A figure was seating upon a chair as they were looking out toward the mountains visible from the window that was in front of them. The figure stood up from the chair, before pulling the window open and stepped out upon the balcony that was in front of them.

"You said that person defeated Minotaur in combat, right?" the person said turning their gaze toward the figure behind them.

"They did."

The figure turned forward once more.

"Then I'll just have to go and see it for myself then," they said, "After all, I am curious about whom could have defeated that Mad Dog."

Leathery wings grew behind the figure's back and then with a single flap of them, they took off into the sky leaving their home behind.

In the past weeks the rumors of Minotaur's defeat had probably spread all over Atlasia by now, but they doubt that it was known who actually had done the deed. Before their names became truly known across Atlasia…

_I want to see for myself who you really are, Aesyr._

* * *

**A new individual hunts our hero...**

**Next Time: **Valdes Village

**Jacques0 out.**

**R&R**


	17. Valdes Village

**Hey guys, here is the next update of this fic.**

**Enjoy the read.**

**Chapter Cover: **Shinji holding his sword on his back as he was looking forward.

Chapter Seventeen

Valdes Village

Yael Salvatore was seating by herself.

The young woman had a light frown upon her features as she was gazing down at the stone that was in front of her. She still couldn't understand how Minotaur had gotten his hands upon that stone, but something tells her that Minotaur barely understood what he really had in his palm. While this stone can only be used by someone of the Salvatore bloodline, she knew the whole reason Minotaur kidnapped her was so that she could use the stone to help him find the Dragon Heart.

But Yael could count small mercies that Minotaur didn't know what the stone truly was or what it was truly capable of. Her mother once told her about the stone long ago and she had never realized that she would have to see one of them truly in front of her like that.

While the stone can only be used by someone of her blood, could she have used it's power to fight back against Minotaur? Maybe if she was trained to use magic.

Yael had little training of magic in her youth but now…

She heard the approaching footsteps and glanced upward at the man that had just entered within her tent. Bartholomew was dressed in his normal clothing thought he still had his blade at his waist. The man had a curious expression upon his features as he entered within the room.

"You wanted to speak with me?" he asked, a curious tone in his voice.

Yael smiled lightly.

"Yes," she said, "Thank you for coming so quickly."

Bartholomew waved her thanks away, "It's fine...I'm mostly worried that something had happened."

Yael looked down at the table for a moment before meeting the older man's eyes. She then placed the stone that she was observing upon her lap upon the table in the middle of them. It was still seating within the clothe that she wrapped it in. Bartholomew's gaze turned toward the stone, a curious look upon his face.

"What is that?"

"What do you know about the Primal Stone Bartholomew?" she asked.

The man's eyes widened lightly.

"T…The Primal Stone?" he repeated shocked.

"So, you do know of it," Yael observed.

"Only that it was destroyed years before the fall of the Royal Family," Bartholomew told her, "But your mother told me a story that it was something of unimaginable power."

Yael nodded.

"You're are right in thinking so," she said, "But the Primal Stone wasn't destroyed as you might believe. One could say that the stone was broken apart into several pieces…Six pieces to be exact."

Bartholomew stared at the fragment that was upon the clothe in front of them.

"Then…do you mean that this…?"

Yael took the stone fragment from the clothe and as soon as it made contact with her skin, a glow started to shine from within the depth of the stone. Yael stared at it, for a few moments before looking at the older man. Bartholomew had a shocked expression upon his face as he observed it within her hand.

"This is the Fragment that contain the Earth Element," she said, "If I was a skilled wizard, I could have used this to turn a desert into a forest. Each of the Stones contain an element of the Primal within them. Earth, Water, Air, Fire, Soul, and Celestial."

She turned her gaze toward the stone in her hand.

"How did you managed to get this?" Bartholomew asked.

"Minotaur had it," she said placing the stone back upon the clothe.

As soon as she had let it go, the stone had stopped glowing. Yael stared at him again, her face completely devoid of emotions and yet there was this flame burning within her eyes, a flame of determination that was so familiar to Bartholomew.

"If Minotaur had this…then…," Bartholomew said.

"He didn't know what it truly was," Yael said, "He thought that it would be a key to lead him straight toward the Dragon Heart. I think we can count ourselves lucky that he was defeat before he could figure out what this stone really was."

"I think I might agree," Bartholomew said, "Thought…I don't understand why you would want me here if you were just going to speak about that?"

Yael looked up at him.

"I want you to train me to use magic."

Bartholomew looked at her, surprised.

"You want to…? But why?"

Yael looked at the stone.

"The Primal Stone has a resonance within itself," she said, "Since all of the pieces were actually one in the beginning, there is a chance that might be able to use magic and be able to…see for a lack of better word where the other pieces are. Since I am a Salvatore by blood, the magic of the Stone might answer to me."

Bartholomew frowned; his eyes seems to be searching something upon her face.

"You're worried about something."

Yael looked at him, feeling surprise rushing through her body.

"I know you well enough to know when you're worried about something Yael," the old man continued, "I raised you remember? Now why don't you tell me the real reason why you want to learn how to use magic in the first place."

Yael stared at the man, shocked that he was able to see through her so quickly. Then, a soft chuckle escaped from her, as she shook her head lightly.

"I can't keep anything from you, can I?"

"Nope."

Yael look at the stone in front of them.

"I think someone gave this to Minotaur," she said, "His attacks had abruptly changed back then and then focused upon finding me for the past five years. He destroyed the previous Dragon Knights. For someone to simply hand him over this stone…either they're not aware of what it truly was…"

"Or someone wanted to make sure you and that stone find each other," Bartholomew said.

Yael glanced up at him.

"That was one of my suspicions as well," she said.

Bartholomew stayed silent.

"There is someone out there who knows exactly what those stones are," Yael spoke out, "And there is a good chance that they're hunting the others as well, wherever they are. If I can learn magic, I can use my connection as a Salvatore to find the rest of the stones before whoever that person is find them…"

"There is a chance that if you do this…you'll draw their attention toward you," Bartholomew told her.

Yael was resolute.

"Then let's hope that the new generation of Dragon Knights will have many members by the time that happened."

* * *

Aesyr was seating by the fire while Shinji was lying down upon the ground. They had left Hyades village three days ago and would reach their destination tomorrow if Shinji's was right. Having volunteered to take first watch, the young white-haired woman had simply decided to look out toward the darkness that was around them.

The forest they were in was not as quiet as she was with the sound of running water of the nearby lake. Seating like that by herself, it made her think of the past sometimes. Of the many nights she would spend awake practicing and learning Dragon Slayer magic from Elassan and even find her mind going back to her old friend, Ace.

She hadn't thought about him in a long while, at least, not since she first arrived her in Atlasia. It made her wonder if he was still alive or if he was still okay. She had remember seeing how the people slowly lost themselves to the Dragon magic they had been blessed with and she had seen how they transformed into beasts, bend of destroying everything around them….

She had been forced to kill many of them to stop the bloodshed that had followed.

Dragon Slayer.

There was a time when the name had brought her pride but now, all that she had to remember was the failure that followed it. The people had quickly turned against them when the Dragon Hunter, Acnologia first appeared and thinking of that man, caused Aesyr's scar to itch.

She raised her hand toward her neck and gently touched it. That scar was the only reminder of that time when she battled him to a standstill to save Elassan but it was futile for Elassan had died and all that she had to be reminded of that failure was the scar she now has.

But sometimes…your failures are all you need to keep moving forward.

* * *

The next morning both her and Shinji were on the road again, heading toward the village. They were on foot since Valdes Village wasn't as far away as the Minotaur Fort was, but the road on foot was still a little bit long.

But there was something that was bothering Aesyr for a while now…

"Hey Shinji," she called out drawing the young man's attention, "What is a Fallen God?"

The young man stared at her in surprise.

"Why are you asking me now?"

"I have been meaning to ask you for a while now," Aesyr continued, "But now it is a good time as any."

Shinji let out a small hum.

"Well, the Fallen God is a title," he said, "Give to the Seven most dangerous wizards in Atlasia."

Aesyr frowned lightly.

"Do you know them all?"

Shinji shook his head.

"Well, I knew Minotaur was one," he said, "They were a few that gained some infamy over the years. There is the Butcher who had slaughtered an entire village of people by himself, thought no one knew as to why it happened. The Magical Disaster which had caused a village incident…and there is the Mountain, Gregor but he never did anything wrong…he is just that powerful by himself."

"So…they all have armies like Minotaur did?"

Shinji shook his head.

"No," he said, "Most of them prefer to work alone…at least, as far as a I know but whenever the Imperium need them, they answer."

Aesyr blinked.

"The Imperium?" she repeated.

Shinji looked at her, confused upon his face before a light dawned in his eyes.

"I keep forgetting you're a foreigner to Atlasia," he said shaking his head lightly, "The Imperium of Atlasia is the leading body that is governing the continent right now. They are led by the Magisters who are all powerful wizards in their own right and the one who is leading them is the Grand Magister. In the past, the Imperium were only usurped by the Royal Family but then since their fall fifty years ago, the Imperium basically control this country and protect the lands that they have under their control."

Aesyr frowned lightly.

"But they didn't help Hyades when it was attacked," she said.

"Because we were in Minotaur's territory," Shinji answered her, "And as long as it was that way, the Imperium would not interfere after all, as a Fallen God Minotaur answered to the Imperium whenever they needed his power for something."

Aesyr was affronted that something like that even existed.

"That's just…," she said, unable to find the word to describe what she was feeling.

Shinji must have noticed something upon her face for he chuckled.

"Yeah…," he said, "Atlasia had gone straight to hell ever since the royal family fell from power…and there is nothing anyone can do about it."

Aesyr stayed silent for a moment.

_Maybe there is…, _she thought.

Shinji blinked.

"Hey here is the village," he exclaimed.

Aesyr looked toward the front as well.

In the distance, it was easy to notice the large gate in the distance which was closed. The Gate was colored as a dull red color that was fading, and had some words written upon it in a tongue that Aesyr couldn't understand. The wall were as tall as the gate, made of strong stone that looked impressive in their own right.

However, Shinji was frowning beside her as the duo were approaching it.

"What is it?"

"Something's not right," he said, "I don't think I ever remember this gate being closed during the middle of the day."

"Do they usually leave it open?" Aesyr asked.

"OF course," Shinji spoke out, "This is very bizarre."

"_Who goes there?"_

Both Aesyr and Shinji looked up toward the voice finding people at the top of the gate. They were all armed with weapons in their hands, mostly farm tools.

"I know that voice," Shinji said, before calling out, "_Dan, is that you?"_

One of the figures approached toward the edge looking down at the two of them, surprise at being addressed by name.

"Wait….is that you Shinji?" the man, Dan said, "What the heck are you doing here?"

"Your town mayor called me here," Shinji answered back, "Said that you had a problem that you need fixing."

The man Dan laughed out loud.

"You got that right," he said, "_Hey you guys down there, open the gate. We've got a Dragon Knight here_."

The Gate in front of them started to groan as they opened in front of Aesyr and she's got the first look at the town beyond it. It was completely different than Hyades by miles. Many homes made out of stones and woods lined up the streets that she could see as both her and Shinji entered within the village of Valdes.

"You are a sight for sore eyes Shinji."

A young man was there. He had spiky black hair with a grin upon his lips. His body was well toned and bronzed from being under the sun all his life as his eyes were as black as his hair observed the two of them. He was wearing long pants upon him, and a sleeveless shirt which was red.

Shinji shook his hand.

"Sorry about the welcome back there," Dan continued, "With the way things are going on right now, everyone is a little on edge…huh, who is this?"

His eyes had finally found Aesyr who was standing a little way back from Shinji. The young man glanced at her and indicated her forward and Aesyr did.

"This is Aesyr," he said, "She is a Dragon Knight as well."

Dan's eyes widened in shock.

"Seriously?"

Shinji nodded.

"She was Knighted as well," he said, "Got a Dragon coin just like I did."

"Damn," Dan said looked at her in shock, "And here I thought you were the last one…well great to meet you Aesyr."

Aesyr only gave him a light nod of greeting.

"Dan…why was the Gate closed?" Shinji asked, getting straight down to business.

Dan looked at him.

"I think it's best you speak to my dad about that," he said, "He'll be able to bring you up to speed about what has been happening in the village for the past few weeks."

Aesyr frowned lightly.

"Is your dad the Mayor?"

Dan had a light smirk.

"That he is Aesyr," he said.

Shinji nodded.

"It's been some time since I've seen the old man," he said, "Alright, take us to him…and maybe, we'll know exactly what is going on here."

* * *

**A new happening...**

**Next Time: **Unexpected Complications

**Jacques0 out.**

**R&R**


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